Three Ahwatukee Boy Scouts achieve Eagle rank helping others

Three Ahwatukee Boy Scouts from the same troop – including twin brothers – became Eagle Scouts in a joint Court of Honor ceremony Feb. 26 at Esperanza Lutheran Church.

David Neighbors and brothers Ewan and Fraser Darroch – all students at Desert Vista High School – attained scouting’s highest honor after completing community service projects.

The 16-year-old Darroch brothers, natives of Scotland who joined a Cub Scout pack when they were attending Cerritos Elementary School, followed in the footsteps of their older brother Alasdair, who also attained Eagle rank with Troop 78. He graduated from Desert Vista last year and is now attending a university in Scotland.

Fraser and Ewan Darroch began their scouting career as Cubs in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2006 and joined Ahwatukee Cub Pack 879 four years later, moving into Troop 78 in 2013.

For his project, Fraser worked with Esperanza’s Children of Hope Preschool to build a wooden workbench, magnetic play wall and clean out the sand in their play area. “We also did a lot of landscaping work – planting and trimming trees and re-laying a lot of grass,” he said,

“I wanted to give something back to Esperanza,” he said, noting the troop meets at the church.

Fraser said he learned a lot from his work.

Ewan worked with the Lost my Home Pet Foundation for his project. The group shelters dogs and cats whose owners have lost their home.

“We built an outdoor shelter for the volunteers to work in the shade,” he said. “I also cleared out a storage room and built new shelving units to help them organize pet food, bedding, toys, and so on.”

He also installed a new door post at the front entrance that allows the foundation workers to secure their screen doors so that the main doors could be open without the animals being able to escape.

Ewan’s project had personal roots.

“One of my family’s pets is a rescue dog, and I wanted to carry out a project for a shelter that cares for dogs who have nowhere to go,” he explained.

“I learned a lot about planning and carrying out a project involving a lot of work, a lot of people and a lot of planning and leadership,” added Ewan, who plays football for the Thunder and rugby for the Ahwatukee Rugby Club.