Eagle Scout Alex Cheng builds 'Hope'

The Garden of Hope at Willow Pond Park—which has become an important source of organic, locally grown vegetables for food pantries throughout the area—got a recent upgrade thanks to Yorktown resident and Eagle Scout Alex Cheng.

Cheng, who graduated from the Hackley School in Tarrytown last spring and now attends Washington University in St. Louis, built a compost station that’s both efficient and safe as his Eagle Scout project.

A longtime member of his local Scout troop, Cheng designed and constructed five compost bins for the Yorktown Garden of Hope. He said he got the idea from a friend who had worked there, and began volunteering by planting, watering and clearing the land.

When Yorktown News visited the garden, Cheng shared the inspiration, challenges and lessons learned along the way.

“What I've learned is that there's a lot of work that goes into the construction [and] planning,” he said. “Even though it's not super large-scale, there's still a lot of stuff that went into it. I designed the compost bins from scratch.”

He cleared and leveled a designated area, laid gravel donated by Yorktown Garden Supply, and built the bins using heat-treated pallets from Home Depot and Lowe’s. Each bin includes swinging doors for easy access.

“You can roll the wheelbarrow up it,” Cheng said. “There’s a little hook to keep it upright. I also cleaned up the area below it, since it’s a wetland and we don’t want the compost to get wet.”

The new compost system doubled the garden’s capacity, allowing it to produce more than 8,000 pounds of organic food annually and to support about 500 people each week through donations to local food banks. Cheng also launched and managed the garden’s Instagram account to share updates and encourage community engagement.

Along the way, Cheng—who plans to major in business—had to exercise entrepreneurial skills to secure donations for materials.

“I had to contact and go in person to these companies—Home Depot and Lowe's—to get the donations,” he said. “I also went to Yorktown Garden Supply—they supplied the gravel that's under the compost bin.”

He also developed a budget, raised funds, organized work times for his troop, oversaw the construction process and led both peers and adults. He said the experience showed him how much effort goes into projects of any size.

Master gardener Janet Mora said the compost nourishes the plants by providing minerals, nitrogen and carbon, which helps the garden fulfill its mission.

“We keep producing a ton of food for all the food banks in Yorktown,” Mora said. “That’s what we’re here for.”