For a local Boy Scout, making quilts for Primary Children's Medical Center became more than a creative Eagle Scout project. Braydon Perry's project enabled him to provide tangible comfort to ease the stress of a long hospital stay for young patients.

Braydon, a 12-year-old resident of Saratoga Springs, knows firsthand the comfort value of a cuddle quilt.

"I've had seizures since I was a little baby, and I've always gone to Primary Children's," he said. "Sometimes I stayed for two or three weeks. They did a lot for me there at the hospital, so I wanted to do something to help them help the kids."

He has since passed along the quilts he received during his stays in the hospital to his younger siblings, but he still remembers the quilts' calming effects.

Braydon spent 350 hours of his summer on various aspects of his Eagle project, including organizing a neighborhood yard sale to generate funds for supplies, choosing fabric, gathering neighbors together for quilting days, and sewing the quilts.

"What was fun was making the quilts," Braydon said. "Most kids would think that's weird because most people would think it's just for ladies, but not me. I liked sewing them."

His mother, Tiffani Perry, said he wanted to pick out character patterns he thought the kids would like.

"He got really excited about it and got lots of people involved. His dad quilted like crazy," she said.

Braydon's original Eagle project goal was to make two quilts and 20 activity kits for Primary Children's Medical Center, but his commitment and enthusiasm enabled him to far surpass that goal. On Sept. 4, he delivered 24 quilts and 110 activity kits.

He said his hospital experiences prompted him to make activity kits as well as quilts, adding that it's not just patients who enjoy the activity kits.

Bored children who can't visit their hospitalized siblings need something to do in the waiting room while mom and dad attend to the young patients.

Braydon said he remembers doing dot-to-dot puzzles and coloring pages while his parents visited his younger brother and sister in the newborn ICU.

Marie Hendriksen, Gift-in-Kind Coordinator for Primary Children's Medical Center, said she credits Braydon with expanding on the activity kit pattern.

"I loved his idea. He went a step further and created a variety of kits for different ages," Hendriksen said. "I was just thrilled to get them. Besides benefiting the children who use them, Braydon's project helped us because now we're using his kits as a prototype for future projects,"

Braydon is the son of Jarrin and Tiffani Perry of Saratoga Springs and an active member of Boy Scouts of America, Utah National Parks Council, Pony Express District, Troop 6 in Cedar Fort. His family's move from Cedar Fort to Saratoga Springs gave him a chance to involve people in both communities in his project. Family and friends logged a combined total of 180 hours working on the project.

"He worked really hard. Instead of doing sports he's interested in Scouting. We're a Scouting family," his mom said.

Both of Braydon's parents as well as grandparents Ray and Margaret Shuman of Cedar Fort serve in the Boy Scouts of America Pony Express District. The Shumans have both received Scouting's highest service honor, the Silver Beaver award.

"Braydon's a bright kid. We've introduced him to Scouting, but he's taken it from there," said grandpa Ray Shuman, who served as Braydon's first Scout master.

"We've always taught our kids to do their best. Getting his Eagle when he's only 12 shows that hopefully, he's listening. I'm proud of him," said Braydon's father, Jarrin.

Completing the requirements for an Eagle Scout award before the age of 13 puts Braydon in an even more select group of the only 3 percent of Scouts who earn the Eagle rank.

He considers his trail to Eagle and his 50 merit badges as just the beginning.

"I'm happy I've accomplished what I started, but I'm not done. I still have 70 more merit badges to go," Braydon said.