Children of Belton, SC do it again!

I was invited to Belton, South Carolina for an Earth Day celebration on April 22, 2009. Belton is a beautiful little town in the upstate about 3 1/2 hours from Charleston. I had actually travelled to Belton 2 years earlier for a similar trip - the 2 elementary schools in town were studying loggerhead sea turtles and had held fundraisers for the Sea Turtle Rescue Program. These 2 schools were actually the first to ever hold fundraisers for the program and raised over $3,000 that year. Apparently, it was a big hit with the kids and since they kept talking to their teachers about it, they decided to do it again...but this time with an entire Earth Day celebration around it!

Through the 2009 read-a-thon called "Love the Loggerheads," 3rd through 5th grade students at Belton Elementary raised $3,373.00! Marshall Primary, the K-2nd grade school, also raised funds, bringing the total to almost $3,600 for the Sea Turtle Rescue Program! This wonderful donation will help fund medications, food and medical care for the sick and injured sea turtles that are admitted into the Turtle Hospital this season. The big check presented by the top readers at Belton brought tears to my eyes and the younger ones were so sweet when they gave me a huge jug full of rolled coins and bills that they had been collecting all year.

I would like to send a HUGE thanks to all of the kids from Marshall Primary and Belton Elementary for your dedication to learning about the state reptile, the loggerhead sea turtle, and for your hard work in raising much needed funds for the turtle hospital. And although I'm sure many were involved from each school in making this happen, I would especially like to thank Patsy Martin from Marshall and Kate Byrd from Belton, for being such passionate educators and for being great inspirations to the kids you teach. YOU ALL ARE AMAZING!

Keep up the great work and remember - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

Kelly Thorvalson