Jake Nordstrom's
Good Turn
Eagle Scout Project
What were my Goals for this Cultural Experience?
To raise donations to bring a Cuban Baseball Team to the Bay Area for a week to share our culture, experience community service, and play some baseball, LOTS of baseball!
To have each Cuban player bring back a full duffle bag of equipment for their home team.
Have special jerseys/hats made for each player.
Offer a language experience for both the Cuban and American players.
Offer an authentic American cultural experience to the Cuban players.
Teach the Cuban players how to maintain a field and help to improve a local, Marin County field.
Have fun! Because THAT's what baseball is all about!
Challenges to Overcome
The US Embassy in Cuba was closed in October 2017. VISA interviews were not being performed.
Plan: Find out a date that all employees will be allowed to go back to work at the US Embassy and schedule interviews for the players and coaches by the end of March 2019. Connect with a local Govt official to see if there is an exception to be made for a private interview to complete the VISA process. Keep checking in with US Ambassador's office to see if they have any information about when the embassy might reopen. Todd Anderson and I are communicating regularly, but so far, there are still no signs of re-staffing the US Embassy.
Itinerary
Plan: Daily baseball practice and games. Site seeing itinerary:
Walk across GGB, Red Bus Tour, SF Giants game, Oakland A's game, possible Warriors game, Alcatraz, Ghirardelli, Pier 39, Hike Dipsea or Other Ocean View Trail/Beach Day, cultural experiences to include museums, art, history, and more…
Execution: Start working on getting excursions donated/discounted/paid for.
Ideas: Start to work on getting donations from vendors who would like to be involved in a special project that is "outside the box"! It was a real honor to be able to meet with Yeshayah Goldfarb, the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the SF Giants and I really appreciated their donation of tickets.
Raising the money to host the Cubans in the US for a week.
Plan: Approximately $25,000
Execution: Show my marketing video to as many people possible and have set up GoFundMe and PayPal accounts to raise money.
Places to stay
Plan: Need 13-15 families who will each sponsor 1-2 boys and all of their activities for the duration of the stay. Cost/budget/family donation would be about $1,000-$2,000 per family and will include all food and daily expenses for their player.
Execution: Start spreading the word of the “master plan” and start getting commitments from families who could be interested.
Ideas: Start with current baseball team, and then open up to local families who love baseball and would want to help.
Eagle Scout Project Day
Plan: Restore a local field and teach the Cubans how to maintain it.
Done, well, sort of! Eagle Scout Project Day took place at Endriss Field in Larkspur on August 25-26th. When the Cuban players come, there will still be plenty of work to do!
I don’t speak very advanced Spanish…
Plan: Focus on getting more fluent this year in AP Spanish.
Execution: Talk to my teacher about my plan to see if they can offer extra help.
Original Plan (Aug. 2017)
Revised Plan (June 2018)
Meet Team Cuba!
Player Names
Abel José Aguirre
Alejandro Rodríguez Hernández
Alex Brayan Rodríguez Águila
Brandon Amilca Pérez Losada
Frank Gras Leyva
Jonathan Marcos Ercia
Jorge Luis Silva Martínez
Julio César Guerrero Rodríguez
Kendry Villar Martín
Luis Enrique Vázquez Ramos
Marcos Alejandro Reyes Quian
Xian Vega Urrutia