Editor's Note: The following article was written by 16-year-old Arjun Nagpal about his experience planning and executing the building of 7 doghouses for the Humane Society of Huron Valley for his Eagle Scout Project.

My name is Arjun Nagpal, and I am 16-year-old from Ann Arbor Boy Scout Troop #4. I am currently finalizing my Eagle Scout Project which has taken a good 10 months of planning, fundraising and hard work.

I wanted my project to benefit animals, so I began my quest with the Humane Society of Huron Valley. They had recently begun the construction of their new shelter and because of this they seemed too busy with their own project to help me with mine. I felt the need to increase my options on projects, so I broadened my spectrum out to science.

A few weeks later, I went to the Hands-On Museum. If there was one thing the museum could use, it would be a 2-story tall marble coaster. Unfortunately, the volunteer coordinator was only going to be at the museum for a couple more weeks before moving to another job. With a limited amount of time, I wasn’t able to carry forward the planning of the marble coaster I had in mind for the museum.

I returned to the Humane Society determined to leave with a project in mind. I met with Kelly Schwartz, Director of Volunteers and Operational Support, and brainstormed with her about potential projects. We decided that building dog houses would be the perfect project.

I immediately started the steps to have my project approved, one of which required me to send a letter from Ms. Schwartz to my Eagle project coordinator approving the project from the side of the Humane Society. After receiving a copy of the letter for my own record, I found out the dog houses I would be building were going to be used by the cruelty investigator who needed them to give to dog owners as a part of educating them on the proper care of their pets.

I have had a dog for 9 years now. When I first got him, I became more aware of articles in newspapers and online about the prevention of dog abuse. Ever since then, I have always wanted to join the fight. I was recruited without even knowing it. The project immediately became even more meaningful to me and it increased my enthusiasm and motivation to complete it.

By mid August, the several dog houses that had to be built became 7 dog houses, which were finished and beautifully painted in my garage. The time spent in between the approval of my project and building the dog houses was used to buy the materials and construct the prototype, calculate how much of what material I would need for the remaining dog houses and figure out a way to transport everything to my house.

I also coordinated times and dates to get family, scouts and friends over to help. Thankfully, Fingerle Lumber delivered the materials and, since summer vacation was coming to a close, I knew some scouts, friends, and family would be in town. I was able to accommodate everybody’s schedule by having 3 different work days with 4 early evening hours for the dog houses to be assembled, roofed, and painted. Having thought of painting each dog house with a theme, I opened up the idea to my friends and family who took it into consideration and gladly gave the dog houses their own unique look.

Without the 60-plus friends, families, scouts and scout leaders who contributed to my project in some way, none of it would have been possible. At 9 a.m. on Sept. 26, the 7 dog houses were delivered to the Humane Society of Huron Valley - each of which were one of a kind. Some were stamped with bones, others were painted as gardens and one was painted as a fire station with 2 Dalmatians. Another was even painted as a bamboo house!

This project has been a great experience for me. I gained leadership qualities, I learned many carpentry skills, and I have come to realize how lucky I am to live in such a wonderful and supportive community. I really appreciated all of the help from Fingerle Lumber, my carpenter Mr. Veil, my friends, family, scouts, scouting leaders, neighbors and teachers who all generously contributed to this project.

Next summer, I plan on volunteering at the Humane Society of Huron Valley to continue my service to animals and to the community. Over all, I feel honored to say that my Boy Scout Eagle Project was about a group of enthusiastic adults and kids who learned a lot, had fun, helped the community and felt great satisfaction when the job was done.