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Mercy Folsom's Friendship Garden Enhanced
Seeds: Hospital Rules Shift Project
The Sacramento Bee - Saturday, November 7, 2009
Millun Atluri's dream is to be a surgeon, not a landscaper. But the enterprising Eagle Scout has brought new life to a hospital garden in need of some TLC.
Now, thousands of patients at Mercy Hospital of Folsom, as well as more than 500 employees, have a peaceful place to rest and relax amid flowers and the tinkling of falling water.
"We've always wanted a fountain but could never get one," says the hospital's Sister Cornelius O'Connor. "Thanks to Millun, we finally have our fountain – and so much more. Millun completed our healing garden with his special touch."
Atluri, 14, a freshman at Folsom's Vista Del Lago High School, plowed more than 1,000 hours into his project at the hospital. But his new skills will last him a lifetime.
Coordinating with the hospital's staff, Atluri raised almost $8,000 for the project. With his crew of fellow Scouts, he planted more than 100 trees, shrubs and perennials he had handpicked. He rebuilt a footbridge and installed a large, solar-powered fountain as well as solar-powered lights and a white picket fence.
"We have a vegetable garden at home, but I'm not really a gardener," Atluri says. "I definitely learned a lot."
This week, more than 30 staff members and volunteers joined Atluri, his family and other Scouts for a blessing of the Friendship Garden – and to marvel at a job well done.
"He's amazing," says Troop 237 Scoutmaster Randy Strebe. "This was an extraordinary project. Scouts may put 250 to 300 hours of combined effort into (an Eagle) project, but this was several times that. It was very ambitious, and it turned out beautifully."
Originally, Atluri didn't envision taking on a major landscaping job as his project, one requirement for a Scout to earn his Eagle rank. He started in the emergency room.
For a school science assignment, Atluri researched the positive effects of soothing music on hospital patients. In planning his Eagle project, he approached Mercy's board last year with the idea of installing a sound system in the hospital's emergency department to broadcast soft music and ease stress.
"I wish my staff had his presentation skills," says Mercy President Don Hudson.
Hospital regulations didn't allow a teenager to install electronic equipment in the emergency room. But Sister O'Connor had a different sound in mind – the soothing patter of water. She suggested to Atluri that installing a fountain in the Friendship Garden would be a great idea for an Eagle Scout project.
So he got to work.
"I was so impressed," says Srinivas Atluri, the teen's father. "That was a $5,000 fountain. But he got on the phone and started bargaining. He got it down to $1,800. There was no way to run electricity to the fountain, but he came up with a solution – to power it with solar panels. This project started small, but he kept adding and adding."
Adds Strebe: "It's interesting how he changed. Before his Eagle project, he used to be very timid on the phone. Now, he gets right to the point. He's all business and very mature.
"Part of becoming an Eagle Scout is to learn leadership," Strebe adds. "On planting days, he led 13 to 15 Scouts, working from 9 in the morning to 7 at night. Millun had all the plants delivered and did the placement himself. He really has a great eye."
Atluri worked closely with hospital engineer Vic Sims, calling him almost daily. He consulted with landscape architects and became a teen expert on water-wise gardening.
"Most of the plants I chose are drought-resistant," Atluri explains. "I also chose plants and colors that would attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I really like the smoke tree and the kangaroo paws. It will look prettier in the spring."
His interest in medicine grew out of family crisis.
"My father had a stroke three years ago," explains Shobha Mallarapu, Millun's mother. "We went to India to see him in the hospital, and Millun became very interested in medicine. He decided then he wanted to be a doctor.
"Now he's planted this beautiful garden," she says. "If he studies medicine and becomes a doctor, he might work here someday and take a break right in this garden."
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