From the very beginning of the Scouting movement, Scouts have been urged to “Do a good turn daily.”

This was the guiding principle for sisters Sadie and Halie Davis who just completed their Eagle Scout projects, benefiting the Kempton Community Center in the process.

Thirteen-year-old Halie Davis built eight bat boxes that will house up to 250 bats per box.

She passed her Eagle Board of review on Jan. 6.

“I created a place that’s safe from the elements in the winter,” she said. “I made a 2-foot wide and 4-feet tall [shelter] out of wood. I made eight of them.”

The boxes are meant to provide shelter for a bat population that has been decimated by white-nose syndrome, a disease that affects hibernating bats, caused by an invasive, cold-loving fungus.

“The goal is to get the bats out of caves and into boxes [to avoid] a fungus that grows in caves that infects bats with white nose syndrome.”

Halie knew where to go for help in building the boxes.

“I got guidance from a local wood working company,” she said. “They lent me a woodwork space for assembling the boxes which I stained black to absorb more sun in the winter.”

The boxes are already being utilized.

“[They’ve been installed] at the Kempton Community Center behind the tractor pull field,” Halie said. “They’re attached to poles and they could be raised and lowered.”

“Halie has always loved animals,” Megan Davis, her mother said. “As a family, we’ve always loved animals. This project increased her love of animals while learning more about conservation and her interest in increasing the bat population.”

“It was a lot of fun,” Halie said. “I learned a lot about leadership and what it takes to get things done. I [also] learned to do a lot of research.”

Fifteen-year-old sophomore Sadie Davis installed five first aid cabinets that included 15 fire blankets, four Life Vac DeChokers, fire extinguisher signs and numerous first aid signs. Her board of review is scheduled for a February date.

“The metal cabinets are 24 inch by 36 inch, and Osha certified,” Sadie said. “We got them online at Amazon and fire blankets, DeChokers and CPR signs were put in every building [at the community center].”

To pay for her project, Sadie conducted a fundraiser.

“We sold wrapping paper in the community, raising over $3,000,” she said. “The Kempton Lions Club [alone] donated $500.”

The project was both educational and meaningful.

“Completing this project showed me how to be a leader and work for my future goals,” Sadie said, who wants to follow a career in anesthesiology.

“Sadie’s project reconfirmed in her the path she wants to follow in her life,” her mother said. “Landing on this project touched her heart. She was really passionate about doing it.”

The two sisters are Order of the Arrow members.

“[This is] a group within Scouting America that focuses on service to others, and is generally considered akin to the National Honor Society within scouting,” Megan Davis explained.

The girls represent Troop 101G, comprised of 10 female scouts that meets once a week at the rec hall at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kutztown.