(above) William Arida at the revitalized Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Courtyard, which he completed for his Eagle Scout project.
William Arida Completes Eagle Scout Project
Revitalized Church Courtyard Entrance
William Arida, a member of Boy Scout Troop 77 and a resident of Westfield, NJ, completed his Eagle Scout Project in June 2019. BSA Troop 77 is chartered at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and is a member of the Patriot Path’s Council. William has been a member of Troop 77 since 2012 and is a senior at Seton Hall Preparatory School. He is the son of Dr. Kenneth and Mrs. Jeannie Arida of Westfield.
An Eagle Scout project must be for the benefit of a non-profit organization and the Scout is tasked with developing, leading and executing a community-service project.
William’s Eagle Scout service project benefited his home parish, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 250 Gallows Hill Road, Westfield, where he is an active youth member. His Eagle Scout service project was to revitalize the Church Courtyard, the primary entrance from the parking lot to the church, with new landscaping.
William led a team of 22 volunteers over the course of four weekends to clean up the flower beds, pull out dead trees and landscape the area with 48 new trees, shrubs, plantings and install fresh Canadian Cedar mulch. The team of volunteers also permanently installed a commercial park bench under two shade trees, as an area of rest and reflection. The project budget was $3,000. William fundraised and received monetary donations over several months from family, friends and community members. The project came in at budget, due to a thorough project plan by William and the generosity of vendors, including RL Landscaping in Watchung, Baron Nursery, Twin Boro Lumber and Supply and Home Depot. William is donating surplus donation funds to the parish of Holy Trinity for the benefit of youth programs.
