FAIRFIELD – Aryan Maheshwari, a sophomore at Fairfield Ludlowe, turned to weight lifting as one of the activities he could safely do during the pandemic last year.
Now he hopes to share that passion with the community by setting up an outdoor fitness center in Veres Park as an Eagle Scout project.
“The city of Fairfield has provided many great opportunities and services to its residents over the past few years,” said Maheshwari, a member of Boy Scout Group 82. “However, there is a lack of public physical wellbeing. This can be fixed from this summer and spring. By building a strong and permanent structure, residents can play sport safely and healthily free of charge. “
He started building the project on July 10th and was just putting the finishing touches this week.
Maheshwari’s journey to fitness began when he and his family were on a family vacation out of the country. His father brought a bodybuilding book by Arnold Schwarzenegger with him, but the book was lying around the house for a long time until Maheshwari flipped through the pages during the quarantine.
“I completely forgot the book and when the quarantine came when all schools were closed, you had to stay home for a long time and there wasn’t much to do,” Maheshwari said. “One day I was looking through this book and decided I wanted to get into this sport.”
He decided to take his passion one step further and let the community enjoy it too.
“I thought this would be a good project because when the pandemic first started all equipment was very expensive and all the gyms were closed so there wasn’t much you could do other than run and do bodyweight work,” he added. “That’s just how I started in my garage and out in my back yard. I felt like this would be a good way for people to get out and do sports in the summer. “
Maheshwari received a lot of praise when he started fundraising and spreading the idea of his plan. During the first five days of his fundraiser on GoFundMe, Maheshwari received more than $ 700 from community members. His goal was only $ 920.
The support continued outside of fundraising.
Maheshwari spoke to materials donation companies, people from wood shops to understand materials, and architects from the public works department to discuss additional blueprints and designs.
He said one of the biggest challenges is speaking to city officials and figuring out what to say in order to get their assistance building a fitness center on the city property with a group of volunteers.
“So far I’ve learned that persistence is a really big thing.” said Maheshwari. “Even when it comes to bodybuilding or schoolwork, you will never get the results you want to see if you are not consistent with what you do. I could have given up when the city said something, or when someone else said the city wouldn’t let you build, and I didn’t. I kept pushing forward and making progress and I think it paid off in the end. “
He hopes his project will inspire others.
“Leading this project was much bigger than I thought,” he added. “I developed new skills that I wouldn’t otherwise have and made connections that helped me get to know myself as an individual. I hope this inspires those around me to work to create an even more active and ongoing community. I am grateful to my family, the DPW, my scout group and everyone who supported me on this path. “
