Scout Project Leaves No Time to Rest

Chris Davis was never bashful about approaching people to help him become an Eagle Scout.

“One thing really helped me: I’m not shy,” said the 14-year-old Reseda Boy Scout.

That trait came in handy when Chris began his Eagle Scout community service project: providing 10 low-cost, sturdy wooden beds for children who were taken from homes because of abuse, neglect or a parent’s inability to care for them. Beginning in August, he asked his church congregation for donations, secured wood from area lumber companies and enlisted volunteers to make the frames.

“The biggest thing is getting something done and making it run smoothly,” said Chris, who has been a Boy Scout for six years and has earned 26 merit badges. “I never realized how much it takes to put on a project.”

Before beginning the project--the largest he’d ever undertaken--the ninth-grader at the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in Reseda spent much of his free time at the computer designing Web pages and preparing resumes, for which he earns money.

But Chris learned carpentry skills and got the idea for the bed project from Scoutmaster Kent Hart, who helped with plans for the beds.

“I wanted to design something inexpensive and that could be put together by almost anyone,” said Hart.

With the help of his family, Boy Scout Troop 101 and other volunteers, Chris put in more than 340 hours raising money, sanding wood, drilling holes and helping assemble the finished pine frames.

“It felt like all we did was load and unload wood,” joked Chris’ mom, Susan Davis. Chris’ dad, Mel Davis, also helped sand wood and assemble the beds.

Once he finishes delivering the beds, with mattresses bought with donations, Chris will come closer to following in the steps of his 18-year-old brother, Steven, also an Eagle Scout.

After he turns in the necessary paperwork and an essay, and braves a board of review session, Chris said he should receive the Eagle Scout badge and pin by December.

“When they finish the Eagle Scout project, they really develop some leadership skills,” said Vern Okelberry, a Boy Scout unit commissioner.

“It gives them an edge in the work force. . . . If Chris has shown that much perseverance when he’s young, [employers] know he’s not going to be a quitter.”

Slightly more the 2% of Boy Scouts nationwide become Eagle Scouts, Okelberry said.

Saturday, Chris and his family, along with a county social worker, began delivering the twin-size frames and mattresses to needy children. Each bed included a handmade quilt and stuffed animal.

Jerry Knapp of North Hills got two new beds. The single father, who said he got custody of his daughters after their mother suffered a stroke, had been sleeping on the living room sofa for more than a year. He had given up his king-size bed to the girls.

“This is a godsend,” Knapp, 43, said. “To see the youngsters wanting to get involved makes you feel good.”

With the new beds, kids will have a better chance of remaining with family members unable to afford big expenses, said Brenda Trunzo of Adopt-a-Child-Abuse Caseworker, a nonprofit partnership that works with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

Courts require that the children have their own beds; if that isn’t possible through relatives, the children may be placed in foster care, she said.

“It snowballed into a communitywide effort,” Trunzo said. “It just takes the first person to get it going.”