It’s not every day a teenager devotes his free time to raising thousands of dollars for a community project, but 15-year-old Joseph Andrade isn’t your average teen—he’s a Boy Scout.
Andrade, a freshman at Ernest Righetti High School and member of Orcutt Troop 95, has high hopes of becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest and most honorable rank a Boy Scout can reach.
But the path to becoming an Eagle is a demanding undertaking.
The process includes the completion of a mandatory Eagle Scout project, Andrade said, during which Scouts are required to lead the designing and carrying out of a meaningful community service project. Andrade’s love for reading historical fiction and the Harry Potter series partially inspired his choice to build a children’s library in the Harvest Community Center, which is currently located in the Victory Harvest Church of God in Christ.
“I want to promote literacy in the community,” Andrade said. “Having the ability to read makes you successful in life in general. And with kids, that’s where it really starts.”
The library, which will be located in a room formerly used for storage, is expected to cost $3,800 to build. With that budget, Andrade said he hopes to buy bookcases, paint supplies, wall art, rugs, beanbag chairs, puzzles, games, tables and chairs, and books in English, Spanish, and Mixteco for kids ages 3 to 13.
Although several individuals and businesses have already donated to Andrade’s GoFundMe and Facebook pages in the two weeks since he started raising money—the funds add up to roughly $300 altogether—Andrade still has a long way to go.
“It’s going well,” Andrade said. “People are very generously donating so far.”
Aside from monetary donations, which are tax deductible, Andrade said community members can also help by donating new or used books to fill the library.
While Andrade is entirely in charge of fundraising efforts, he said he’ll have to ask for help from the members of his troop during the building process, which is scheduled for sometime in March. And Andrade hasn’t been completely without help thus far. He said Mayra Ramos, assistant director of the Harvest Community Center, has been significantly involved in the process.
“Since we’re so new we can definitely benefit from any ideas from any community members,” Ramos said. “So I was really thankful when Joseph reached out to us.”
Harvest Community Center is a Santa Maria-based nonprofit dedicated to feeding families. Ramos said the organization gives groceries to about 200 to 400 individuals every month, while also providing various other services, including adult computer classes.
But the organization is still very new—Ramos said leaders only just hired a staff, and the church the organization is using for space now is only a temporary location. Soon, she said, Harvest Community Center will have a homeless shelter and community center built in the open lot behind the church, where the children’s library will be moved to as well.
The library will be open to all children, which Ramos said there are a lot of in the community center’s neighborhood.
“We have a minimum of 30 kids coming through each week,” Ramos said. “So we thought it’d be good to get these kids some books.”
The center had already been providing families with some books at its monthly food drives, but Ramos said she wanted to do more. At a forum for nonprofits in Solvang last year, Ramos said she met the local Boy Scouts’ executive director, who told her about the Eagle Scout projects, and they exchanged contact information.
It worked out for the best, Ramos said.
“We’re just thankful the community is supporting our work,” she said, “and we are looking forward to creating more community partnerships in the future.”
Community members interested in making monetary donations can vistit Andrade’s GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/josephandrade or his Facebook group called Joseph Andrade’s Journey to Eagle Scout. Individuals who would like to donate books can drop them off at Victory Harvest Church at 619 North Railroad Ave., Santa Maria. Andrade said he also provides a book pickup service. To reach him, interested parties can call (805) 406-0429.
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash wrote this week’s School Scene. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at mail@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 18-25, 2018.
