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Goodyear teen takes on project to help residents

Christian Larkin freshens up house number paint on curbs

Posted 11/5/19

For his Eagle Scout project, 14-year-old Christian Larkin wanted to do something special for the city.

“I researched stuff online, and I was like, well, what better place to find a project …

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Goodyear teen takes on project to help residents

Christian Larkin freshens up house number paint on curbs

Posted

For his Eagle Scout project, 14-year-old Christian Larkin wanted to do something special for the city.

“I researched stuff online, and I was like, well, what better place to find a project than the city of Goodyear?” he said.

That’s why Christian, who attends Odyssey Preparatory Academy, 17532 W. Harrison St., Goodyear, decided to paint fresh new house numbers on curbs and alleyways in Historic Goodyear. The project will allow police and fire to locate homes more quickly in emergency situations.

“They can just look at the freshly-new painted curb or alley wall and just be like, bam, that’s the house,” he said.

Christian’s project consisted of two steps. First, he placed doorhangers on each home in Historic Goodyear to inform residents of his project and allow them accept or decline his service. Then, he cut out cardboard boxes for stencils, bought black and white paint, and gathered more than 30 volunteers to paint numbers at each residence that requested the service.

The project was so popular that many residents who might have missed Christian’s doorhanger came out of their homes to request that his volunteer group paint their curb as well.

“When they came around to do it, obviously we said, ‘Yes, we want the numbers painted,’” Historic Goodyear resident Mary Larsen said. “I love the way it looks. He was a very nice young man.”

Christian is currently a Life Scout, but his successful project means he’s one step closer to becoming an Eagle Scout.

“I felt special being connected to the city of Goodyear and doing this,” he said. “It was a good project.”

Editor’s note: Shane Dale is the City of Goodyear’s digital journalist.