MARBLEHEAD — When Dan Howells had to find a source for his Eagle Scout project this year, he didn’t have to look very far.
A member of Scout Troop 79 since first grade, Howells — a senior at Marblehead High — has spent the last few summers serving as a camp counselor at the YMCA’s Children’s Island day camp where he’s helped work with special needs children. And a passion for that work is what carried over into his work as a scout.
“It started out with an idea,” Howells, 18, said. “Each group at my camp has their own bag of sensory items. Basically, these items are for kids dealing with any kind of stress or emotional situation. It’s something like a stress ball that they can squeeze on as they process what they’re going through.”
With a goal set, the mission began to collect as many sensory items and donations as possible over the past few weeks and to give it all back to the Marblehead children who need it most.
“I reached out to the special education department at the Marblehead schools to ask if there was any kind of need for items like that there,” Howells said. “And there was, especially with the new school being built in town.”
The town’s new elementary school, which is currently in construction now, will — along with other elementary schools — be home to sensory rooms where special education students can cope with their negative emotions.
“There are a lot of scouts who do more outside projects, but I decided to do something that I’m generally interested in and something that I have personal experience with,” Howells said. “It’s something I would like to give back towards.”
So far Dan’s mission has been a great success with things finishing off this past Saturday during a live collection where he was helped by his parents Kelly and Dave and fellow scouts Sebastian and Chris Vasquez.
All in all the project raised over $1,000, along with various items like stress balls and fidget spinners. The number will also be matched by Marblehead Public Schools.
“It’s amazing how much the word can spread on Facebook,” Howells said of the project’s success. “I’ve met people who give donations and I don’t really know them so it’s interesting to see where the dots connect.”
Now that everything has been collected, Howells will be on sanitation duties before making the items and funds available for students as soon as possible.
“I’m going to give it to them once I sanitize everything,” Howells said. ‘I have people there who I’m working with. It will go to them, even if it doesn’t directly go into the new school yet and it will transfer over when the time comes.”
With a successful project wrapping up, Howells is well on his way to becoming a successful Eagle Scout, but it’s helping children who may not be on everyone’s mind during the middle of a pandemic that makes it all the more rewarding for him.
“This is something, right now especially, that might be lower down on the list of priorities,” Howells said. “I understand why that might be, but it’s something that needs the funding and I’m hoping this can help that a little bit.”
