New River Eagle Scout completes his project
by Jennifer Krahe

NEW RIVER–Two bottles of water, shampoo and conditioner, a bar of soap, a washcloth, and a $5 gift certificate to a discount store.

All this can be found inside each of the 70 backpacks Daniel Ford and a crew of friends he enlisted to collect and fill with donations from around the community. The backpacks were sent to the Phoenix Rescue Mission earlier this month.

The backpack project is a task Ford has undertaken in order to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts of America, and one which only five percent of scouts attain.

Ford needed approximately six weeks to complete the project, from talking with scout masters and getting permission, to organizing friends and securing  donations.

Ford admits to having somewhat of a different experience than most scouts–he is a Lone Scout, meaning he does not have a troop. In fact, he and his father Steven Ford make up his troop.

“Lone Scout has been a unique experience because a big part of Boy Scouts is teamwork and camaraderie. It’s been me and my dad,” he laughed.                     

“I kind of sat down one morning and thought about projects that I could do,” he says of his backpacks for the homeless. “We (Ford and his father) stumbled across this project one day–I was looking online and I thought it was a neat idea. I called around to Safeway and Wal‑Mart and started getting donations.”

Ford’s father said, “You get bad news all the time. We want to give credit to the myriad of people who have helped out. What an incredible experience it’s been.”