All in the family: Boy Scout keeps community service tradition

Community service seems to run in Mark DeFilippis’ family.

The 17-year-old West Hempstead High School senior — grandson of Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association — recently completed an Eagle Scout project that gives back to his community.

DeFilippis spent two months and a total of 250 hours working with volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 240 at Tanglewood Park and Preserve to build an 8-foot by 8-foot shelter for two rescued miniature ponies that Tanglewood recently adopted. He completed the shelter — made of plywood and covered in cedar shakes and a shingled roof — on May 1.

Coming up with the idea for the project was relatively easy, according to DeFilippis. He had visited Tanglewood, which always welcomes Eagle Scout projects, to see with what ideas he could come up. On the day of his visit, Tanglewood, home of the Center for Science Teaching and Learning, learned that it was going to adopt the two rescued ponies.

“It was meant to be,” DeFilippis said.

Only the timing was slightly off. DeFilippis, who took horseback riding lessons as a child, had to rush the project because the horses needed to bond with their trainer and Tanglewood wanted to have them out for Earth Day. DeFilippis was successful in completing the project by the desired date: the shelter and ponies were presented to the public during Tanglewood’s Earth Day celebration on April 30 and May 1. Tanglewood charged $7 per person and DeFilippis’ Boy Scout Troop lead nature trail walks and children’s games, such as ring toss and treasure hunts.

“The most important people there were the kids,” DeFilippis said.
    But looking at the ponies and their new shelter, he recognized the importance of his own work as well. “I can say I built this,” he said. “We put the whole thing together for them.”

Being a Scout since he was 5 years old — and the grandson of a well-known and respect community leader — community service is, at this point, second nature for the teen. “I really picked up on the entire point of scouting when I crossed over to boy scouts,” he said, adding that he hopes his project will help other scouts pick it. “[I want to] motivate others to do bigger and better projects,” DeFilippis said. “It is not easy and it is not for everybody. It’s worked out for me so far.”

The project was financed through financial and material donations made by local businesses and volunteers. The top five donations came from Glenmore Construction, Fidelifacts, Brian Taylor, a friend of DeFilippis’ that owns a chain of restaurants in North Carolina, U.S. Lumber, which donated $160 worth of wood, and Allside Construction. Others who could not afford to make donations offered DeFilippis reduced prices to ease the cost of purchasing materials. “The project would not have been done without them,” he said.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of him,” said DeFilippis’s mother, Susan. “I am one of the proudest parents right now.”

And, she added, there are quite a few proud parents of the boys in Troop 240, which produces a large number of Eagle Scouts annually. Susan DeFilippis attributes the success rate to the leadership of the scouts’ leaders and parents, and the scouts themselves.

“Mark’s grandfather and I are both proud of him for being who he is — an intelligent, warm, friendly and capable young man,” said Norton. “Just how many young men his age spend time doing something for others?”

Norton helped her grandson with the project by volunteering to run one of the concession tables during the Earth Day celebration.

“Community service runs in our family and I hope it continues for years to come,” Norton said.

DeFilippis will soon be interviewed by the Boy Scout Council and, if approved by the Eagle Scout Review Board, he’ll set a date for his Eagle Scout ceremony.