Kid Turtle Heroes

On the other side of the Rockies, the students in Mrs. Elliot's class found out about the KTTC from articles in Maclean's magazine and WILD, the children's magazine of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. With three resident turtles in their classroom, the children were already big turtle fans, and they decided to help the turtles in the KTTC by doing some fundraising. One girl in the class had a turtle theme for her birthday party and asked for donations to the KTTC in lieu of presents. We were very touched by their generous donation of $81.47, which will go towards the care of our patients. How wonderful it is to see children actively involved in preserving the world which they will inherit!

For her eighth birthday, Jazmine wanted to do something a little different. She wanted to have a turtle birthday party and make a donation to a turtle conservation group. How thrilled we were when her mother wrote that she wanted her donation to go towards the care of an injured turtle at the KTTC! Jasmine had lots of turtle activities at her party, and helped her friends to become aware of some of the serious issues facing turtles throughout the world. Jazmine had a wonderful day, and in the process she made ours a little brighter too!

These two sisters found a dehydrated painted turtle hatchling on a hike with their grandparents. The girls saved its life by taking it home and placing it to soak in shallow water. They then called the KTTC, and we held the hatchling for several days until we were sure it had recovered. It was then released in the wetland adjacent to the path the girls were hiking on. Mortality in hatchlings and juveniles is very high, but thanks to Shawna and Hunter, this hatchling has a fighting chance!

Without question, Kids 4 Turtles is the inspiration for the formation of the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre. This group of young conservationists, ages 3-10, raised almost $5,000 to purchase turtle crossing signs for Peterborough County. The children attended a preschool/summer camp adjacent to a wetland, and they were concerned about turtles being run over when they crossed roads in search of a nesting site. A homemade sign was destroyed by vandals and this infuriated the passionate environmentalists. They decided to raise money to erect a steel roadsign and Kids 4 Turtles was formed. They were given the sign design by a group in Ottawa called Turtle SHELL Tortue. At a Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan Council meeting in the summer of 2000, the kids received permission to erect signs in the township, and the council was so impressed with the youngsters that they gave them their first donation of $500. A hike-a-thon, lucky draw, bake sale, barbeque, and private donations raised the rest of the money. The kids ran the show- they wrote letters asking for donations for the draw, picked the berries to make jam, and found sponsors for their hike. The most difficult task was keeping adults out of the way so these kids could do their thing!

With such an enthusiastic response from the local community, the children decided to approach the Peterborough County Council for permission to erect signs throughout the county. Eight children, ranging in age from 3-10 years, represented Kids 4 Turtles at a council meeting and read speeches they had written themselves. The councilors melted at the sight of child after child approaching the podium to shyly speak into the microphone, and voted unanimously to allow the signs to be placed. For their efforts, the children received an award from the County and from the Ontario Heritage Foundation for Outstanding Achievement in Preservation and Conservation. They show us all that with hard work and determination, we can all make our world a better place!