Earth Scouts Outdoor Education Fundraiser
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The Spiral Living Center has been promoting sustainable living skills in the Illinois Valley of Oregon since 2006 . This fundraiser will support the creation of our new Earth Scouts! program inspired by our late board member and beloved friend, Scout.
Reflecting Scout’s passion for sustainable living and resilient communities, Earth Scouts! will be an inclusive, holistic program that provides an opportunity for teens and adults to heal from isolation and industrial culture and deepen relationships with themselves, each other, and the living Earth that supports us all. Earth Scouts! will offer a safe, socially distanced setting for participants to improve their physical and emotional wellness and develop outdoor and rural living skills they can depend on in uncertain times.
An outdoor classroom and experiential curriculum will deepen participants’ connections to the land and foster whole-body learning. Earth Scouts! participants will learn to rely on themselves and each other as they study the living world around them and develop skills for sustainable living, personal growth, and caring for others. Participants will earn badges representing their new skills and will be encouraged to share those skills with the community. To empower participants and promote sustainability, Earth Scouts! graduates will serve as mentors for others in the program.
Scout empowered people by helping them find their voice and develop a relationship with nature. She had a talent for connecting the right people at the right time to create powerful moments that felt timeless. Scout's compassion and humanity and her wilderness and homesteading skills are driving forces behind our vision for the Earth Scouts! program.
We need YOU to help us develop this life-changing program! Your support will help us prepare the site for the outdoor classroom, purchase a shelter, equipment, and supplies, develop the curriculum, and hire a program coordinator and instructors.
No contribution is too small or too large. All donations are fully tax deductible.
How will we use your donations?
Our fundraising goal is ambitious, because we have big dreams for this program. Here’s how we’ll put your moneyto work:
Skylodge canopy $ 7,500
Site preparation 3,000
Audio-video equipment 1,000
Labor 7,200
Insurance 800
Supplies 500
TOTAL $20,000
(*Labor includes a program coordinator, curriculum development, and instructors at $18/hour)
Who was Scout?
Scout was a spirited musician, visionary artist, earth activist, and permaculture farmer with a passion for social change, community sustainability, and empowering others. She was born and raised near Washington, DC, but the world was her home. Family trips to Europe and across the US along with the diversity of her childhood community gave her an extraordinary ability to connect with people of all walks of life wherever she went.
Scout attended a wilderness education program in North Carolina, studied permaculture design at Starhawk’s Earth Activist Training program, and learned plant medicine, hide tanning, and other homesteading skills at the Spiral Living Center. At the time of her passing, she and her partner were honing their skills in sustainable farming and community living on five acres in Southern Oregon. Scout designed hugulkultur garden beds, experimented with mushroom log cultivation and mycoremediation, planted an orchard, made herbal remedies, cared for goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, and taught workshops at the Spiral Living Center.
Scout sang before she could talk, and her banjo was her “magic wand” to deliver her messages on street corners and at jam sessions, concerts, and open mics. Her weekly show, “Folk the System,” on Illinois Valley community radio, KXCJ , had a devoted audience in the Cave Junction area and online. Scout was also known for her quick wit, bold humor, and wild, infectious laughter that “rolled out of her core and pushed through her face.”
Scout died in a tragic accident in July 2019 at the age of 26. According to her wishes, she was given a natural burial in Takilma, surrounded by family and friends. She is deeply missed by the Spiral Living community and all who knew and loved her.
REWARDS
$5 Scout’s album “ALWAYS FREE” [$4 tax write off]
$10 A seed packet with marigold, basil, or ___ + CD [$8 tax write off]
$25 Earth Scouts! Vinyl sticker + seed packet + CD [$20 tax write off]
$50 An XL bandana screen printed with Scout’s original art + seed packet + sticker + CD [$40 tax write off]
$100 Self Care Basket (only 5 available) + bandana + sticker + seed packet + CD [$75 tax write off]
$150 Herb walk or farm tour (virtual or in person) at Frog Farm with herbalist Deb Lukas (only 3 available) + bandana + sticker + seed packet + CD [$100 tax write off]
$250 Fall abundance gift basket (only 2 available) + bandana + sticker + seed packet + CD [$150 tax write off]
Reflecting Scout’s passion for sustainable living and resilient communities, Earth Scouts! will be an inclusive, holistic program that provides an opportunity for teens and adults to heal from isolation and industrial culture and deepen relationships with themselves, each other, and the living Earth that supports us all. Earth Scouts! will offer a safe, socially distanced setting for participants to improve their physical and emotional wellness and develop outdoor and rural living skills they can depend on in uncertain times.
An outdoor classroom and experiential curriculum will deepen participants’ connections to the land and foster whole-body learning. Earth Scouts! participants will learn to rely on themselves and each other as they study the living world around them and develop skills for sustainable living, personal growth, and caring for others. Participants will earn badges representing their new skills and will be encouraged to share those skills with the community. To empower participants and promote sustainability, Earth Scouts! graduates will serve as mentors for others in the program.
Scout empowered people by helping them find their voice and develop a relationship with nature. She had a talent for connecting the right people at the right time to create powerful moments that felt timeless. Scout's compassion and humanity and her wilderness and homesteading skills are driving forces behind our vision for the Earth Scouts! program.
We need YOU to help us develop this life-changing program! Your support will help us prepare the site for the outdoor classroom, purchase a shelter, equipment, and supplies, develop the curriculum, and hire a program coordinator and instructors.
No contribution is too small or too large. All donations are fully tax deductible.
How will we use your donations?
Our fundraising goal is ambitious, because we have big dreams for this program. Here’s how we’ll put your moneyto work:
Skylodge canopy $ 7,500
Site preparation 3,000
Audio-video equipment 1,000
Labor 7,200
Insurance 800
Supplies 500
TOTAL $20,000
(*Labor includes a program coordinator, curriculum development, and instructors at $18/hour)
Who was Scout?
Scout was a spirited musician, visionary artist, earth activist, and permaculture farmer with a passion for social change, community sustainability, and empowering others. She was born and raised near Washington, DC, but the world was her home. Family trips to Europe and across the US along with the diversity of her childhood community gave her an extraordinary ability to connect with people of all walks of life wherever she went.
Scout attended a wilderness education program in North Carolina, studied permaculture design at Starhawk’s Earth Activist Training program, and learned plant medicine, hide tanning, and other homesteading skills at the Spiral Living Center. At the time of her passing, she and her partner were honing their skills in sustainable farming and community living on five acres in Southern Oregon. Scout designed hugulkultur garden beds, experimented with mushroom log cultivation and mycoremediation, planted an orchard, made herbal remedies, cared for goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, and taught workshops at the Spiral Living Center.
Scout sang before she could talk, and her banjo was her “magic wand” to deliver her messages on street corners and at jam sessions, concerts, and open mics. Her weekly show, “Folk the System,” on Illinois Valley community radio, KXCJ , had a devoted audience in the Cave Junction area and online. Scout was also known for her quick wit, bold humor, and wild, infectious laughter that “rolled out of her core and pushed through her face.”
Scout died in a tragic accident in July 2019 at the age of 26. According to her wishes, she was given a natural burial in Takilma, surrounded by family and friends. She is deeply missed by the Spiral Living community and all who knew and loved her.
REWARDS
$5 Scout’s album “ALWAYS FREE” [$4 tax write off]
$10 A seed packet with marigold, basil, or ___ + CD [$8 tax write off]
$25 Earth Scouts! Vinyl sticker + seed packet + CD [$20 tax write off]
$50 An XL bandana screen printed with Scout’s original art + seed packet + sticker + CD [$40 tax write off]
$100 Self Care Basket (only 5 available) + bandana + sticker + seed packet + CD [$75 tax write off]
$150 Herb walk or farm tour (virtual or in person) at Frog Farm with herbalist Deb Lukas (only 3 available) + bandana + sticker + seed packet + CD [$100 tax write off]
$250 Fall abundance gift basket (only 2 available) + bandana + sticker + seed packet + CD [$150 tax write off]
Fundraising team: Earth Scouts Dream Team (2)
Deborah Lukas
Organizer
Cave Junction, OR
Caitlin Deane
Team member