Scout creates garden to remember victims of abuse and neglect

A new garden within the DuPage County Courthouse complex remembers the most innocent victims of injustice: children who have died as the result of abuse or neglect.

The garden was created by Daniel Weber, a Glen Ellyn teen who has participated in Boy Scouting since he was a Troop 507 first-grader at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Naperville.

During the spring of 2011, the 17-year-old high school junior began searching for a project to earn Scouting’s highest rank: Eagle Scout.

Eagle Scout candidates must perform a service project that displays leadership skills and benefits a noncommercial organization, such as a church, school or charity.

Many Scouts find an organization they want to help and then design a project around that, which is the route Weber took when he approached CASA of DuPage, an organization that provides trained volunteer advocates for abused, neglected and dependent children in DuPage County’s juvenile court system.

Weber often thought about pursuing a career in the legal profession, and when he heard about CASA, he knew he had found the organization for which to do his project.

Several options were discussed before settling on the creation of a CASA Children’s Garden, where children lost could be remembered and others could find hope for a brighter future.

“Working with CASA has truly been a wonderful and eye-opening experience,” Weber said. “Through my opportunity of working with CASA and learning about its good works, combined with my aspiration of becoming a human rights lawyer in order to help all that I am able, my life goals have only been strengthened and my life changed for the better.”

The project took 15 months to complete. Weber had several meetings and phone calls with the DuPage County facilities department to obtain approval for the plants he was choosing for the garden area. He assembled his fellow Scouts, family and friends to help carry out the plan and the garden was completed in July.

“CASA is very fortunate to have been able to work with Daniel,” said Lisa Drake, executive director of CASA of DuPage County. ”Thanks to his hard work, there is now a permanent site at the county complex in memory of the children in DuPage County who have died as the result of abuse or neglect.

“His efforts have given CASA tremendous exposure and have helped create awareness of not only our program, but for the children in juvenile court.”

For more information on CASA of DuPage, visit www.dupagecasa.org or call Karen Patton at (630) 221-0889.