By AUBRIE GEORGE
Thanks to 17-year-old Moorestown High School student Tom Sadler, the third floor of Moorestown Recreation Center is now a more comfortable place for teens and community groups to hang out and conduct business.
To qualify for his Eagle Scout badge, the highest honor you can receive as a Scout, Tom recently took on an initiative to revamp the recreation center’s third floor space.
Currently, the space is used for various meetings, classes and a place where Moorestown teens go to enjoy a game center and a place to socialize and relax.
Tom said he wanted to use his Eagle Scout project to help out the recreation department because of the fond memories he has from attending the department’s summer camps and trips in his younger years.
“I spoke with Theresa Miller in the recreation department, and we went through some different ideas,” Tom said. “I figured I’d take this on.”
His effort to revamp the recreation center’s third floor space is one of a couple of ways he’s given back to the department in recent years, he’s also dedicated time working as a volunteer camp counselor at Roberts Elementary School during his summers off from school.
With an idea for an Eagle Scout project selected, Tom put the plan together 5,318 square foot space with 11-foot ceilings.
With the help of dozens of members of Troop 70 in Cherry Hill, where Tom is a member through his parish, Scout leaders, and family and friends, Tom lead the project over the course of three days.
Together, Tom and the other volunteers cleaned the third floor walls, repainted the walls with new colors, and replaced some of the older furniture with new furniture supplied by Habitat for Humanity.
In addition to the volunteers who helped Tom pull the project together, he also received donations from several area businesses, including Benjamin Moore Design Center, Moorestown Hardware, Habitat for Humanity, Wharton Hardware, Passariello’s Pizzeria, and Taylor Rental.
Groups that use the space and will benefit from Tom’s project in the immediate future include Community Alliance on Substance Abuse (CASA), DeCafe Coffee program, various sports organizations, community classes such as Irish step dance, and yoga, and countless Moorestown teens.
Tom hopes that through his Eagle Scout project, the space will be available for Moorestown to expand the set of activities residents are able to enjoy, in a comfortable setting.
