Antarctica Update - TWO MORE WEEKS!

Here is an email I received today from Quark!  Just wanted to ask everyone to keep voting for me!  And help me spread the word by telling YOUR friends, family and co-workers about it.  Right now I have 112 votes!  Would love to see a couple more hundred (or thousand) votes in the next two weeks!

Check out my blog and to vote here:  http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/604

Thanks again!

Love,

Jenna

Who will become the Official Quark Blogger?   Dear Jenna, After over 600 blog entries and 46,000 votes cast, the competition to become theOfficial Quark Blogger enters its final two weeks. For competitors, the next two weeks are vital, as there is still time to overtake the leaders or consolidate a lead. Keep spreading the word! You have until September 30, 2009. Or…competitors may ask their supporters to vote for another competitor, if they feel they no longer have a chance to become the Official Quark Blogger. We make this suggestion, because last week, a generous competitor asked to transfer his 500 votes to another contender. He will inform his voters through a notice on his blog entry. The rules of the competition do not allow us to change a vote. Only the voter can. So for all you voters, it’s time to decide if the blogger you chose is the best candidate for the job. You can change your vote at any time before September 30, 2009.   Please note that voters are under no obligation to change their vote! Thank you to everyone for participating, and for making Blog Your Way to Antarctica a runaway success. Sincerely, Quark Expeditions

Personal Letter Asking For Help

Here is the letter I sent out to my personal contact list!

Dear Family, Friends, and Those I've Met Along the Way,

I'm writing to you because I need your help!  I just entered www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com in hopes of getting a free trip there!  As many of you know one of my life goals is to go to every continent.  This trip I would be able to cross two of those off my list.  Also, my boss got to go there earlier this year and while I love her dearly.  I don't think she should get all the fun!

So, I need your help.  First of all go to: http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/604 and vote for me.  If you have more than one email address, use them all!

Second, tell people about it.  Forward this email, tell your friends and family, random people you are connected too.  Let's see how big of a tribe we can make!  Blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc!  If you need help or additional information just let me know I'd be happy to help in any way shape or form.

Thank you so much!  I really appreciate it and if I win - I definitely owe you all something!  Postcards, photos, penguins, shout outs.  You name it!

GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Jenna Forstrom

Want to help me spread the news?  Let me know how I can help you help me get to Antarctica!

The Natural Step Wants Me To Go To Antarctica!!

Here is a letter The Natural Step USA will be sending out!!

Hi Guys,

 

I would REALLY like to see my friend Jenna Forstrom earn her way onto an educational expedition to Antarctica this coming February but she needs your help (5 minutes, no money!) to get there. In order to address the ever increasing issues related to climate change, we look to Antarctica for information and answers. Jenna is a driven, intelligent, young sustainability professional who, full of energy and ambition, will truly make the most of this opportunity to educate and inform others about her experience there.  

 

Please take a few quick minutes to 'vote' for Jenna online :  Send Jenna to Antarctica!

 

Really want to help Jenna? Tweet the link above, add it to your facebook page, and finally pass this on to people who send you forwards and are often in your inbox. Give them the opportunity to make especially good use of their online time!

 

Holly

Did you vote for me?

Go Big Or Go Home!

So I just entered to win a chance to go blog my way to Antarctica and would love your vote. Below is my official entry. Let me know what you think and please click here to vote for me!

Go Big Or Go Home!

My family has a saying: Go Big Or Go Home! Which is fine for them; they’re all tall. I, on the other hand, can sleep crossed legged in coach with my head on my dinner tray like a school girl at her desk (and I’m still mistaken for a 12 year old). I also have the unnatural ability of making single-serving friends while traveling. Since I was born on the east coast, raised on the west coast, and went to college back in Boston, both these skills have served me well. I have a fearless vulnerability. My life is an open book. This honesty can break down defensive barriers and allow others to comfortably share with me.

Being 5’2’’ in a family of giants, has other advantages. I developed quite a talent for getting attention. How else is a girl to get noticed if her “little” brother towers 16 inches above her? Yes, same biological parents – go figure.

I have an insatiable curiosity, asking both profound and completely random questions. “How does carbon dating work in ice?” and “What has been the most interesting rescue mission you’ve ever participated in?” to “Why does penguin poop smell so rancid?” and “Do you guys ever meet the people from Whale Wars out here?”

If I’m lucky enough to be your blogging connection to the Antarctic, I’ll GO BIG. I’ll take full advantage of every opportunity presented and create a few of my own. Let’s be honest, if I don’t, I might as well just stay home. I’ll share details overlooked by others and keep you updated with photos and videos on the blog and Twitter. And I’ll make sure to respond to your questions of me. Vote for me as the Antarctica stowaway blogger. After all, I’d fit in a duffle.

Friday Backpack Project

My mom's friend, a nurse at Harrison Park School just started this awesome program and is currently looking for funding both cash and food supplies.  Here is an email explaining the Friday Backpack Project.

We started this project as a trial to see if there would even be any interest. We knew there was a need but we weren’t sure about the interest.  This particular school, Clark at Binnsmead (which since July of 2009 has had it’s name changed to Harrison Park School) has 720 students, 84% of which are at or below poverty level. This school is located at 2225 S.E. 87^th Avenue off Division Street.  At Clark every student receives free breakfast.

The mission of our project is to “nourish the body that nourishes the mind”.  The Backpack project would discreetly provide children with food to take home over the weekend.  Backpacks are packed with nutritious, child friendly, easy to prepare foods.

We started off by sending information regarding the project in the school parent newsletter, with a tear off portion to be completed by the parent requesting participation in the program.  The response was phenomenal!

We had already secured the backpacks (courtesy of Columbia Sportswear) so the next step was to figure out how we could collect all the food items.  Basically the cost to fill a backpack is $12.00 (examples of items include: peanut butter, jelly, pasta and pasta sauce, fruit, juice, granola bars, and bread).  To do this we enlisted the help of staff, friends, a neighborhood church, family and families of staff.

In planning this trial we chose to just do it the last 11 weeks of the school year because once we started the project we wanted to make sure we could sustain the project.  Over these 11 Fridays we filled over 215 backpacks.  This truly was a community project because while we did receive $700 in cash donations we needed over $2,000 in food which we were fortunate enough to obtain from the community mentioned above. 

Our goal for the 2009/2010 school year is to offer backpacks during the entire year.  $384 pays for a backpack for a child for every Friday of the school year.  We hope to pack at least 20 backpacks per Friday which adds up to about $960 per month.  We know this is a huge project to tackle, but it is so great for a child/our student to take home a backpack filled with healthy food for the weekend – a great boost for their self esteem as well as having healthy benefits!

Interested in getting involved?  Leave me a note and let me know and I'll contact you.