Falls Church City, VA -- Local Boy Scout Wesley Sturgill this week earned the highest award in scouting after completing a public service project benefiting disabled youth in the area. For the project, Sturgill retrofitted remote control cars and other toys for children with severe motor disabilities and gifted them to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program, an Arlington school that serves kids with special needs.
“It’s like Christmas,” said Sarah Peters, a Shriver occupational therapist who received the toys last fall. The toys were also given to students in other Arlington schools including Drew Model Elementary and Barrett, and went to some homebound students.
Sturgill was inspired to undertake the project because “it’s hard for kids with severe motor disabilities to use a lot of standard electronic toys, and adapting them is really expensive.” Families could do it themselves, he added, “but it’s hard and takes time.”
To address that problem, Sturgill retrofitted about two dozen electronic toys, including remote control cars and toys that featured moving parts, toys that lit up, and toys that made noise. “Instead of toys with small buttons and levers that need to be switched or flipped, we created homemade buttons that kids could rest their hands on,” he said.
Sturgill, 17, completed the project as part of his Eagle Scout Award, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank. To earn the award, each candidate must earn 22 merit badges and successfully complete a community, church, or synagogue-related service project. Only about 6 percent of all eligible boy scouts earn the distinction, according to a national scouting publication.
Sturgill earned his award at a Court of Honor ceremony in June. Approximately 12 scouts affiliated with Boy Scout Troop 1996 of Falls Church City and two friends supported the project, which involved roughly 130 service hours. All told, it cost about $400, Sturgill said, noting that he financed the project with his own savings and donations from friends and family to an Amazon toy “wish list.”
A senior at Meridian High School, Sturgill is also a leader in the Fellowship of Christian athletes and swims for Meridian High School, which won the state championship this year. The son of Chris and Renee Sturgill, he plans to go to Virginia Tech this fall to study economics.
Boy Scouts of America Troop 1996 serves youth in Falls Church City and surrounding areas and is sponsored by the National Sherriff’s Association. The troop counts more than 30 youth as members and welcomes all interested in scouting.