Orland Park Teen's Eagle Scout Project Becomes Essential Tool For Tradesworkers Overcoming Injury

ORLAND PARK, IL — An Orland Park teen's Eagle Scout project is already proving to be life-changing for those who inspired it.

Sandburg High School junior Michael Rainsford envisioned his Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Trades Totes as a tool to support tradesworkers recovering from injury. The teen got the idea after touring the rehab facility while his father underwent therapy amid a stroke recovery.

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Rainsford, who is part of Orland Park Troop 318, recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout with the successful launch of his project. The totes are designed as hand therapy kits to help trade workers regain strength and dexterity, enabling their return to work. The totes include components of varying difficulty and strength levels to accommodate a wide range of challenges for the patients.

Michael's project was sparked by posters he'd seen at the lab, seeking donations of materials to be used in patient therapy. He was there with his father Sean Rainsford, who was undergoing therapy after a minor stroke.

"I was really blessed, I wasn’t really impaired," Sean Rainsford told Patch.

Michael was impacted by a tour of the facility.

"When I visited Shirley Ryan, I was lucky enough to have a therapist walk me through the whole facility," he said. "To see all the different people from different walks of life in different stages of their therapy—really inspiring, really hit me hard. It made me want to give back to Shirley Ryan even more than I already wanted to."

The family thought they could do more than donate items that could help others' recovery.

"My wife and I looked at each other and thought, 'I bet we can do better than that,'" Sean Rainsford told Patch.

The father-son duo got to work.

"When we started out, we had no idea on what to put in these totes," Michael told Patch. "My first thought was, 'We need to talk to people who are more knowledgeable than us.'"

Michael worked closely with occupational therapists, welders and other trades specialists to build upon his idea.

"It’s really important to have materials that are going to challenge the patients," he said. "These trades patients— they’re really eager to get back to work, so his feedback on including the heavy duty totes was really crucial to making the project complete."

Trades workers, in particular, often face grueling recoveries as they work to regain use of their hands.

"That’s how they got us on hand therapy—different things like that," Sean Rainsford said. "Wanted to work with things that are more mechanical in nature."

Michael began piecing together his kits with features ranging from small bolts for gripping and turning to kettlebells and everything in between. The totes range from basic skills to heavy duty—each equipped to enhance therapies to help workers get back to their trades.

"Young workers who make a lot of money, work really hard, are really motivated to get back to work," Sean Rainsford said. "There’s a lot of good stuff that came out of this.

Once completed and delivered, the totes were immediately put into rotation at Shirley Ryan, a not-for-profit physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital based in Chicago and formerly known as the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

"Physical therapists, it opened their eyes," Sean Rainsford said, "thinking this could help their patients as much as it could help trade workers."

The feedback from occupational therapists at the facility has been overwhelmingly positive, Sean Rainsford shared.

"The Trades Totes have been such an innovative and beneficial addition to our treatment at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab," said Kathleen Sifuentes, doctor of occupational therapy at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Burr Ridge DayRehab Center.

"We have had a wide variety of patients in the trades and the totes have helped us to achieve their goals, and equally important, have provided them with the opportunity to feel like themselves again. Way to go, Michael!"

Michael Rainsford was excited to hear the results.

"It was super rewarding to see, not only on the drop-off date when we handed over the totes, but to see that message from Kathleen a few weeks later—that was really awesome to see," he said. "I’m glad it’s going to continue to be used in years to come."

Sean Rainsford said his son has aspirations of working in the medical field, making the success of his project even more poignant.

"Watching these kids give back and help the patients," Sean said. "These trade workers deserve our respect in what they do. The parents love it. Shirley Ryan loves it.

"Eagle Scout projects are all about leadership, giving back to the community. Michael was trying to help trades workers—and grandmas/grandpas carrying groceries up and down stairs."

It's been thrilling to watch his son and other scouts grow through the program, Sean said.

"Watching these kids grow up from little kids to adults and start giving back, it’s pretty wild," he said.

"It lets other kids know there’s nonprofits out there—you can give back and help people in the community."

Michael couldn't have completed the project with his father's guidance and help, he said.

"I have to give credit to my dad," Michael said. "He was there, at my side the whole time. He helped with writing emails—his experience in sales to get the message across to all the different people throughout the process. I couldn’t have done the project without him."

Approximately 6 to 8 percent of all Scouts BSA members earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Michael has been in the scouting program since 1st grade, and while most attain the Eagle Scout rank at 18 years old, he reached it at 17 years old.

"All these years later to be able to complete it early, all the hard work I’ve done from that point—it’s hard to put into words—really rewarding," Michael said. "The Boy Scouts program is really beneficial to me. It turned me into the person that I am.

"To say that I’m an Eagle Scout, I’m very proud to do so."