Announcing Dates for 2009 MCLUS Trip to BEN

Next summer’s trip dates are now confirmed. June 22-July 5, 2009 will be the adventure-filled/conservation/reforestation/photographyecotourism opportunity of a lifetime. Ask anyone who has gone on these trips to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in the past! Check out overview of the trip on www.mclus.org/eco-tourism/about/ and enjoy. Start making your plans now and ask info@mclus.org for references from past participants, if you like.

Rainforest Quilt: Successful Fundraiser

The rainforest has become a hot topic for children in Macomb, Illinois. Almost 200 students and the local Girl Scout troop have been painting and sewing a Rainforest Quilt. Local businesses were invited to buy donor squares that will have their names stitched into the quilt and create a border around the colorful squares of animals and plants of the rainforest that the children are creating. It is a true work of art with input from kids, teachers, parents, and businesses in the community. The Quilt has provided funding to help send a teacher to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. To see more of the children’s own art work go to www.mclus.org/kids/quilt_project. For information on how you could replicate this community based fundraiser for the BEN (El Bosque Eterno de los Ninos) contact Lisa Gruver at joelandlisa@gmail.com.

Kid’s Book Project: Draw your own Rainforest Illustrations

DREAM THE FOREST WILD: How Children Saved a Rainforest by Sue Memhard with Jim Crisp. This is the remarkable, true story of how El Bosque Eterno de los Ninos (affectionately known as the BEN, in English - The Children’s Eternal Rainforest) came to be saved thanks to kids from around the world. Now, twenty years later, the lyrical story Dream the Forest Wild continues to inspire kids everywhere and invites kids to be their own illustrators. Read the story, and ask your teacher if you can be part of the KIDS BOOK PROJECT by drawing your own illustrations and going to www.suememhard.com/ChildrensRainforest/ to get them published. Then you can have a book sale of your own version. What a great way to spread the word about the BEN and be able to make a tangible donation at the same time!

Fox River Kids Help with Reforesting Pastures

Students from Fox River Country Day School in Elgin, Illinois came again to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Their teachers had prepared them well, so they were ready to take in what the forest had to offer. Expert guides taught them on site about bats, birds, bugs. Well, about mammals, amphibians and plants, too. They did a land use study, helped plant 195 native trees, hiked a lot, played soccer with local Tico kids at a rural school, went on a night hike, climbed to the 200′ tall waterfall for a swim, watched Volcan Arenal erupt, learned to make tortillas, rafted a river and kept extensive nature journals. Learning about the forest while in the forest is the best!

The Forever Forest Goes Home to Monteverde

Rachel got to hand-deliver autographed “thank you copies” of the new book about the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure, to a dozen expert friends in Costa Rica who advised Kristin Pratt Serafini and Rachel during the preparation of the book. Wolf Guindon, who was a huge facilitator in the early purchasing of the land for the children that created El Bosque Eterno de los Niños, is also celebrating the publication of his new biography,Walking with Wolf, by Kay Chornook. The Forever Forest is available through MCLUS for $20 including postage and handling. Simply mail your check to MCLUS, 1128 Weidman Rd., Town and Country, MO 63017.

Hollywood Gala Big Success

Thousands of dollars were raised at the Gala sponsored in large measure by New Chapter and Whole Foods Markets and Creative Artists Agency. To set the stage, images of wildlife from the Children’s Eternal Rainforest were projected on the huge wall above the dinning tables. Orchids graced each table. Violin music wafted through dinner conversation. The inspirational beginnings of the BEN by the Swedish kids were provided by Rachel Crandell. Stirring appeals were delivered by Tom Newmark, Michael Besancon, Anthony Zolezzi and TV celebrity, Suzanne Somers. These remarks and the premiere of Mark Wainwright and Alex Villegas’ video “Stranded” brought the realities of the plight of migratory species in the BEN to the hushed audience who now understands better why tropical rainforests are critical to the health of the planet. The BEN made many new friends on May 8 and a big stride toward funding land purchase on the Pacific slope. Thanks to the many generous donors, we raised over $40,000. This will enable us to take a big step forward with negotiations for land purchase that will reforest wildlife corridors and suck up carbon.

Quilt Project to Help Send Teacher to the Rainforest

A quilt-making project launched on Earth Day in Macomb, Illinois invites children and adults to participate by painting fabric squares with animals and plants from the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Over 100 of these squares will surround a central painting on fabric brimming with wildlife. Sponsorships for the quilt and donations are raising the money that will be shared between a scholarship for a Macomb teacher to go on the MCLUS conservation/adventure trip July 14-27 and funds for environmental education programs in Monteverde, Costa Rica. When the quilt is completed, it will be displayed in the Macomb Public Library and borrowed by classrooms when they are studying about the tropical rainforest. Mary McMahon has been selected as the winning teacher this year. She has started to pack her backpack!

To benefit The Monteverde Conservation League U.S., Inc. on behalf of El Bosque Eterno de los Niños (Children’s Eternal Rainforest), Costa Rica

Join us for the inaugural fundraiser to launch the “Project Pacific” campaign of the Monteverde Conservation League U.S., Inc., the non-profit supporting the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in Monteverde, Costa Rica.

Twenty years ago, a single classroom of elementary school children in Sweden began a fundraising drive to purchase endangered habitat in Costa Rica.

Their enthusiasm spread to forty-four nations, and that international children’s campaign resulted in the creation of the largest private reserve in Central America.

Now it’s time to extend this private reserve westward towards the Pacific coast and restore the rainforest for ourselves — and our children.

$150 donation required to attend (entire donation goes to MCLUS)

For additional information and to RSVP please e-mail sara@mclus.org

The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure by Kristin Pratt Serafini and Rachel Crandell

Just in time for the 20th anniversary of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest comes a gorgeously illustrated children’s book. Last year Kristin Pratt Serafini accompanied Rachel Crandell on a trip to El Bosque Eterno de los Niños to get to know the forest before she began her beautiful paintings. Her rich hues give a true picture of the colors of the rainforest of the BEN. The accurate and artistic depiction of the plants an animals are expounded upon in sidebars that accompany the text of the story. Peter and his mom, Anna, have come all the way from Sweden to visit the forest she helped to start in 1987 when she was a child. You, too, can hike with them and learn from Dwight and Rachel as they share the forest. This book is a celebration of the forest that has been preserved forever by the efforts of children all over the world!

“Never let anyone tell you that you can’t change the world. For the creatures that call the Children’s Eternal Rainforest HOME, the children who saved that forest made the difference between life and death. I feel so grateful that Rachel Crandell and Kristin Joy Pratt have finally told the story of El Bosque Eterno de los Nino’s testament to the power of children.” Lynne Cherry, author, The Great Kapok Tree

If you order your autographed copy from MCLUS directly, the entire profits (50%) will go to the BEN

Price: $16.95 plus postage and handling = $20
Please make out checks to “MCLUS” and send to 1128 Weidman Rd., Town and Country, MO 63017
ISBN 978-1-58469-101-3 Ages 5 to 11

Hollywood Gala for MCLUS May 8

Mark your calendars! You are invited to a star-studded Gala Party hosted by Daryl Hannah to celebrate the BEN and raise money to support the purchase of land to create a Pacific Slope corridor of reforested habitat. It will be held in Hollywood on May 8 at 7:30 p.m. The Gala tickets will be $150. Be the first to see the premiere of a short film about El Bosque Eterno de los Niños.

Costa Rica Adventure of a Lifetime July 14-27, 2008

Only a few spaces remain on the July 14-27, 2008 trip with outstanding guides focused on tropical conservation, wildlife viewing, great photographic opportunities, hiking, reforestation service project, rafting, visit to a school and local homes, etc. Two weeks for $1795 includes everything except airfare and departure tax. Deposit $200 will hold your spot. For more info see the www.mclus.org Ecotourism page or email Rachel at info@mclus.org.

Dwight passed away February 12, but his indomitable, generous, selfless, humble, problem-solving spirit will remain to encourage all of us who work in conservation. His example of patience and perseverance in the face of challenges will inspire us not to give up in every aspect of our lives, and certainly in the challenge of protecting the precious life in our forests.

Dwight and Rachel founded MCLUS in 2002 as a sister organization to the Monteverde Conservation League in Costa Rica. The goal of protecting tropical biodiversity in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest was given a huge boost when Dwight, as co-founder, treasurer and board member, gave his tireless support in the form of ideas, physical labor and financial help. His lifelong experience working in non-profits helped us set up the organization. His selfless giving of financial support inspired others to give. Dwight loved physical work. He was willing to pick up a hammer, a shovel, or a machete and lend a hand on any project that needed doing working alongside our Costa Rican friends. It didn’t matter if he was the donor or the manual laborer. In fact he was both!

Dwight lived to see the Children’s Eternal Rainforest make its first land acquisition since 1995 because of support from his work in MCLUS. As treasurer, he shepherded us in just 5 years to see our annual donations grow five times larger. We now have an endowment, thanks to Dwight’s foresight. His gentle love and devotion made him the best “shepherd” on our MCLUS trips to the Bosque Eterno de los Niños (BEN), as any of you who were on those trips could testify to. If you were tired, or your pack was too heavy, or your boots got stuck in the mud, Dwight was there at the end of the line to give a hand and lighten the load. He will be missed more than can be imagined, but his prayerful, God-centered life will be an example and inspiration always. Thank you, Dwight.

Donations can be made in Dwight’s name to MCLUS by mailing a check to:

Monteverde Conservation League, US
1128 Weidman Rd.
Town and Country, MO 63017

314-878-8427

You can visit http://mclus.org/give/donate-now/ to make a donation online.

Endangered Frogs Feared Extinct Found in Children’s Eternal Rainforest Need Prize Money to Protect Habitat

Photo Caption:
Endangered frog species population thought extinct rediscovered in Children’s Eternal Rainforest, located in Monteverde, Costa Rica, benefits from online social networking contest.
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (January 10, 2008) — Online social networking site Facebook.com is hosting a contest in partnership with The Case Foundation — the Causes Giving Challenge — that will award $50,000 to the non-profit organization that attracts the most individual donors over a 50-day period ending February 1, 2008. Out of over 50,000 individual registered Causes, one has been recently getting a lot of attention — the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Only days after joining the contest, this group has rapidly risen to become the only environmental organization represented in the top 50 contest leaders.

While every group in the contest has a story to tell, the supporters of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest are particularly passionate about the prospect of winning the $50,000 grand prize. A species of tropical frog feared extinct (Lithobates vibicarius) was recently rediscovered within the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. By participating in this contest, supporters hope to ensure the continued survival of this very rare species and continue the fight against global warming.

Award-winning environmental children’s book author and illustrator Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini entered the Cause into the contest, anticipating the release of her latest book, The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure (Dawn Publications, 2008). This true story describes how, in 1987, one class of 2nd graders in Sweden started a movement that would eventually become the largest nature private reserve in Central America.

Kristin wrote and illustrated her first book, A Walk in the Rainforest (Dawn Publications, 1992), when she was a freshman in high school. “Concern for the Children’s Eternal Rainforest inspired me to make my first book. The rainforest was a big deal in the nineties. It should still be a big deal today,” Kristin says. “It seemed natural to join this contest, and try to inspire a new generation of environmental leaders. If the Children’s Eternal Rainforest has taught me anything, it is to never underestimate the power of motivated youth. Facebook just ‘Friended’ the forest.”

The rules of the contest are simple — Facebook members click a “Join” or “Donate” button to become supporters of the Cause and contribute to its chances for winning the grand prize. The group that gets the most individual donations wins $50,000. People who haven’t yet registered for the popular site can easily create a free account to participate in the contest and help their chosen cause.

Rachel Crandell is the founder and president of the Monteverde Conservation League, U.S.: the non-profit responsible for collecting contributions to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. “I’m very grateful for all the new donations that have been pouring in,” says Rachel. “Last year we collected just over $100,000, using traditional fundraising methods, to help preserve more rainforest and protect biodiversity. Winning the $50,000 in this online contest would be a huge help to ensure that the endangered animals endemic to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest will be protected forever.”

This contest is revealing a whole new generation of young and eager philanthropic givers who are willing to donate their time, money and attention to deserving causes such as the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. It demonstrates the power of social networking sites to make a real difference with their millions of motivated members.

The Causes Giving Challenge leader board can be found here:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/giving

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest Cause page can be viewed here:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/53587

About the Children’s Eternal Rainforest
Swedish school children started a worldwide effort in 1987 by sending money to Monteverde, Costa Rica to purchase rain forest and protect its priceless natural treasures forever. Today children from 44 nations have helped The Children’s Eternal Rainforest become the largest private reserve in Central America, 54,000 acres.

To learn more about the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, please visit http://www.mclus.org.

Contact: Rachel Crandell
Tel: (314) 878-8427
Email: info@mclus.org