February 2020
A Note From the Founder – Quest Sends Help to Australian Bush Fires
by Kerry Cordy
I am sure that everyone has been watching the news of the terrible wildfires raging throughout Australia. 32 people have perished including 3 American wildland fire fighters who went to Australia to help during the crisis. Roughly 26,316,723 acres have been burned and 3,012 homes destroyed. It is estimated that more than a billion animals have been killed during the fires and many animals found only in Australia are now endangered and a global effort has been raised to try to rescue as many as possible. This cause is personal for me as my brother is a wild land fire fighter and I have friends and family in Australia. While going to school there in 1986 I was blessed to be able to hold a koala. Now, large swaths of the marsupial’s habitat have been destroyed and koalas as a species are vulnerable.
While the response for “koala mittens” for koalas burnt by the fires went viral and were no longer needed by mid January, Frontier Girls and Quest members along with members of the local community in Redding, CA sewed 398 joey bags, 29 bat wraps and 2 nests to ship to Australia to help in the animal rescue. In addition, $1017 was raised to ship the items, but thanks to Raymond Powell, the Airforce Defense Attache in Canberra, we were able to ship to the airbase at domestic rates and the money was donated as follows: AUD$500 to St. Vincents to distribute food and clothing; AUD$360 to the fund for fallen fire fighter Firefighter Samuel McPaul and AUD$360 to the fund for fallen fire fighters Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer; AUD$130 to Gippsland Emergency Relief fund. Thank you to Kathryn Santry for organizing the service project and to everyone who donated either time or money to ensure its success. I would also like to offer special thanks to Raymond Powell for volunteering to help with distribution of the animal rescue donations which allowed us to put the money raised to better use than just shipping costs.
(Photo left: Aaron Jimenez Frontiersmen #531)
Quest Awarded Top 100 Educational Sites for Four Categories!
Quest Clubs made the Top 100 list in 4 categories on Homeschool.com! Science/S.T.E.A.M., Multiple Subjects, Special Needs and Electives & Foreign Language.
https://www.homeschool.com/top-100-homeschool-resources-2020
New Badges Posted
British Crown Jewels, British Monarchy, Stop Motion Animation
SWAPS Partners Assigned Feb. 7
If you registered for our annual SWAPS, you will receive your partner information by Feb. 7. Please remember the rules of this program.
Rules for participating:
- Make enough SWAPS for each member of your partner Family/Club
- Write a letter to include with your SWAPS introducing your group and explaining why the SWAP represents you.
- Ship your SWAPS no later than March 1, 2020
- To receive an official Quest 2020 SWAP for each participant, ship one of your SWAPS by Mar. 1, 2020 to Quest Headquarters along with the form that will be attached to the email when you receive your SWAPS partner.
Frontiersmen #531 Stock Free Libraries
by Oletha Jimenez
Our recent community service event ❤ We have “Little free libraries” all over town. A post was put on a local Facebook site asking anyone who has ever seen a little library to post its location ? We were BLOWN AWAY by how many there were ? Then the troop collected lots of books from their houses and we divided them at the meeting and chose separate locations for placement. A tiny dent was made lol we placed books in 6 libraries and placed the official list on the site that helped us collect the locations ❤ In case anyone else would like to have it
Patience Badge
In today’s society of instant gratification, it is more important than ever to teach your kids patience. Children today are bombarded with sight, sound, color and a constant stream of input. Video games, cell phones, computers and TVs fill their day with instantly accessible entertainment, communication, and information. As their brains continue to process this information at faster and faster rates, they soon come to expect everything in life to come to them as quickly as a simple push of a button.
Unfortunately, as we all know, life does not exactly work that way. The Patience Badge is a great way to train your kids to simply be in the moment and possibly even deal with boredom “gasp!” It is not a difficult badge to earn, but by making children focus on what it means to be patient, hopefully they will practice it more in their own lives. Help them to realize that patience is something that can not only make their own lives more enjoyable, but also the lives of those around them.
Make a Difference This Year
The 2010’s are past. As we embark on yet another new year, and new decade, I challenge all Quest Members to make a difference in your community this year. If you have not yet earned a Make a Difference award, this is the year to do it. Regardless of your age, there is always something you can do to make your community a better place to live. Make a commitment to uncovering a solution to a problem in your area.
Many educational and fun places to visit in your community, such as zoos and museums, are non-profit organizations. They are very expensive to run, and their costs are not covered by admission fees. Without donations and volunteers, they would be unable to survive. Even if you are not old enough to volunteer at the location itself, you can always help hand out fliers, further a public relation campaign, or hold a fundraiser.
If there is a dangerous intersection in your community that needs a street light, stop sign, or cross walk, start a petition to obtain one. When you have collected enough signatures, present your petition to your city officials. Maybe there are bushes or trees that make it difficult to see oncoming traffic. If they are on private property, offer to help trim them. If they are on public land, contact your city officials with a request that they be trimmed.
Maybe you live in an area that could use some beautification. You could write a proposal for a Neighborhood Beautification Week and get your mayor to sign it. Then make fliers to post around town and organize volunteers to help out neighbors who may not be able to clean up their own yards. Hold a fundraiser to purchase paint and supplies, or have them donated, and coordinate volunteers to help senior citizens, low-income residents, or people with special needs clean up their homes.
Many stores keep unhealthy snacks, such as candy bars, up by the front counter, contributing to our society’s poor nutritional habits and obesity problem. Work with store owners to find tasty, more nutritional items, that can be offered in place of, or at least next to, the unhealthy options. Make fliers for your community promoting healthier eating habits.
There are thousands of things you can do for your community. Find something you love, and then look through your community to find a way you can use your passion to help others. If you love animals, check with the local animal shelters or pet stores to see how you and your friends can help. If you love history, talk to local museums. Maybe gardening is your thing. If so, check with local parks, schools and churches to see who needs help with planting or weeding. If you love painting, maybe you can organize a community mural. Use your imagination to rise to the challenge and make your community a better place to live.