Eagle Scout Project Is Custom-Built for the Carousel Shop

Justin Vogel is an impressive young man. On the last sunny day before his senior year at Lyons Township High School began, he organized an enthusiastic group of boys in scouting to install a hand-built storage unit for the Carousel Shop in La Grange.

Justin, from Western Springs Scout Troop 3, chose the Carousel Shop as the recipient of his final Eagle Scout Project. The large charity shop benefits the La Grange Community Nurse Health Association.

Justin could see that they were struggling to keep up with the massive donations that they have to process each week.

“My mom and I always bring things to the shop,” Justin explained, “and there was one area in particular that was just overflowing with bags of donated clothing.”

Justin decided to design a shelving storage unit, sized to include  plastic bins for organizing items, so that the volunteers could clear the hallway and quickly sort the donations.

Justin used his interest in architecture to design the unit. “I attended a two-week architecture camp at the University of Illinois this summer,” Justin said. “I used what I learned to make the drawings.”

Justin also took computer-aided design instruction at Lyons Township High School and, as a result, he was able to conceptualize and design a sophisticated piece of furniture.

“There is one long base that the two shelves will sit on to raise them slightly off the ground and keep them level.” Justin also explained that the two storage shelves interlock together so that they can easily be moved, but once set in place, sit as one unit.

The weekend before the installation, Justin organized an even larger group of boys to build the unit. Despite the rain, boys from Scout Troop #3, younger scouts and older boys who have graduated from scouting, came to help out.

“We used a friend’s garage because he has the special tools that we needed to build the unit,” Justin said. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, Justin organized his volunteers and they built the shelving.

A portion of the lumber and building materials were donated by Home Depot and Western Springs True Value Hardware. Paul’s Pizza donated lunch for the crew, and Dominick's in Western Springs donated Gatorade.

When the boys arrived at the Carousel Shop to install the shelving, they were greeted by Harriet VerGowe, who is in charge of all of the volunteers who work at the shop.

“We love the Eagle Scouts,” VerGowe said. “This whole place is constantly improving because of the scouts.” 

VerGowe pointed out that the changing rooms were the result of an Eagle Scout Project, including the slatted walls for hanging items, the library and, now, the storage unit.

“You can see how much stuff we accumulate back here” VerGowe said, as she pointed out the hallway where Justin’s shelving unit would go.

“This is going to help us a lot. The better organized we can be, the easier it is for our volunteers to sort through all of the donations and get them into the shop.”