Chandler Harkins, a member of Troop 1 Conimicut, is working his way up to become an Eagle Scout.

Harkins, a sophomore at Smithfield High School whose family used to live in Warwick, made first aid kits that were donated to Smithfield elementary schools to use during recess time as part of his Eagle Scout project. The project had to benefit a school, church or other aspect of the community, and he was able to incorporate part of his community into it as well. Claflin Medical of Warwick donated materials including ice packs, bandages and the like, and then he assembled the 25 kits with his fellow troop members.

Other Eagle Scout projects he knows of consisted of making bags of toys for kids in hospitals and painting churches. Harkins said he chose to do the kits as he wanted to do something a little different.

“I wanted to do something that not a lot of people do, so I decided to go to the superintendent,” he said.

He almost decided to make 1,000 smaller kits for all the students in the town, but settled on just 25 kits after the schools said they needed them for recess.

Putting the kits together wasn’t always easy; Harkins had a hard time finding a company that would help him get the materials for the kits.

“I got rejected a lot, so it was kind of tough. You kind of get used to it after a while,” he said. But eventually, Claflin came through and donated the materials.

Initially, Harkins’ mom, Cheryl, was disappointed that companies weren’t willing to donate but was satisfied when he was successful in finding Claflin.

“I thought it would be easy,” she said. “I wrote [Claflin] a thank you letter and thought it was generous that he didn’t have to go any further than that.”

Harkins, who also plays basketball but gave up this season to get his Eagle Scout project done, is thinking of a career in law enforcement or as an emergency medical technician and is part of the Police Explorers Program in Smithfield. He said being an Eagle Scout will look good on his résumé, plus he’s learned more communication skills, leadership skills, knots, first aid and “probably everything I need to know to survive” through his time in Scouts.

Smithfield Superintendent Robert O’Brien asked Harkins to attend a school council meeting because he’s proud of the project. To get that kind of approval was “pretty cool,” his mother said. She thinks being a Scout has taught her son to be respectful and recounts a time when he stopped to help a woman at Christmas Tree Shops when an item was falling off a shelf. She is proud of his involvement in Scouts since the first grade and is happy he’s on his way to Eagle, especially since only 4 percent of boys make it to this rank.

“I’m proud of him. It’s a hard thing,” Cheryl Harkins said. “He’s worked hard and he’s a good kid.”