[obol] ABA Birders Exchange, invitation to help

[Judy Meredith]

 OBOL,
 If you are an ABA member, you probably received the new catalog
 this week. Check out the ad and article on page 79 about ABA's
 Birders Exchange. If you don't have the catalog, here is the link
 to the  website explaining the program.
 http://www.americanbirding.org/bex/
 OFO would like to coordinate an Oregon based equipment drive
 for ABA to send to the people in need. This will help birds, education
 and conservation, all very worthy causes and a part of the mission 
of OFO.
 
 Sheran Wright and I accompanied Jeff and Patricia Harding on
 a trip to Colombia recently. We saw first hand how this program
 makes a difference. We met the ornithologist  who first dreamed
 of the program and we birded with a student researcher who was
 sporting binoculars with a sticker on them from ABA Birder's Exch.
 The bins were much appreciated by him!  And of course we birders
 appreciated the views we had of range restricted and endangered
 birds he studies and showed us. Your spare bins or field guide may 
help a young person have a future career saving birds, now that is 
really something!
 
 So, this is your invitation to round up that used but serviceable birding
gear (not broken or rusty etc.) Sheran Wright has volunteered to 
coordinate efforts in Oregon. She is willing to answer your questions 
and to help organize area plans  for gathering equipment.  OFO will 
package things for shipping to ABA  once we have a good supply from 
Oregon.
 
 Please see the BEX website for specific equipment that is needed at 
this time. Of course your contribution is tax deductible.(officially 
you donate to ABA). OFO is just doing the the statewide collection 
project to benefit the program. We will get out more details later 
with suggested timelines etc.
 
 If you have questions or want to participate, contact Sheran Wright 
at sheranwr at earthlink.net or call her at 541-383-5148. 
Oh, and in case she is at Malheur now or something crazy like that, 
you can call me instead for the next few days.
 Judy meredith - 541-389-4039 or cell 541-480-4655
 jmeredit at bendnet.com