Field of
dream s
MAIN PHOTO: CLIFF CRAVEN
INSET PHOTO: PHIL BORGES
Phil Borges takes
a photo of a young
subject in Ecuador
(left). At right is a
photo from his book
Women Empowered,
taken in Ethiopia.
Casey Ehrlich is making
quilt panels to draw attention
to kids’ concerns about
the environment. So far
she’s sewn 400 12-
by-12-inch squares
into six panels.
PART EQUINE rescue and
part rehabilitation facility,
Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch
(
www.crystalpeaksyouthranch.
org) in Bend, Oregon, began
operation in 1995 with two
broken-down horses on a nine-
acre property that had been
trashed by a mining operation.
Ranch founders and Costco
members Kim and Troy Meeder
accepted the financial
risk of the purchase, as
well as the formidable
task of transforming the
land into a ranch, because
they be-lieved that giving
neglected, abused and
disadvantaged children a
chance to care for horses in a
similar condition would have
a healing effect on both.
When a 16-year-old girl,
mute since the loss of her par-
ents, spoke her first words to
an abused and emaciated horse
while at the ranch, they were
convinced that they were on the
right track. So many similar
events followed that Kim has
compiled them into two books.
CRYSTAL PEAKS YOUTH RANCH
Costco members Kim and
Troy Meeder, founders of
Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch,
work with children and
horses in need of healing.
“It was as if all these broken
pieces—the once-ruined land,
starving, crippled horses and
children from a wide variety of
situations—came together to
form a whole,” Kim says.
Today Crystal Peaks is
home to between 25 and 30
horses. The ranch receives
between 4,000 and 5,000
visitors annually and is open
from March to December. A
volunteer workforce of about
250 works tirelessly to create a
safe environment for children
and their families.—Will Fifield
3CASEY EHRLICH KNEW she
wanted to do something for
Earth Day 2007—she just wasn’t
sure what. After exploring the
possibilities and tapping into her
creative side, the 15-year-old
decided to make a quilt to help
kids express their concerns
about the environment.
Following that thread of
an idea, Ehrlich launched
Blanket the Globe (www.blanket
theglobe.com). The Marblehead,
Massachusetts, teen made the
first square, but she’s relying on
kids from her school—along with
anyone 18 years and younger
from around the world—for more
LORI EHRLICH
squares to sew together.
Ehrlich’s hopes for Blanket
the Globe are that the panels will
be displayed around the world
and eventually at the United
Nations as a way to bring awareness to environmental issues.
She explains that kids in
particular feel powerless when
it comes to global warming and
other issues. “A lot of [kids]
are scared and don’t know what
to do,” says Ehrlich, whose parents, Lori and Bruce Ehrlich, are
Costco members. “They see my
project and they get excited. It
gives them a voice.”
—Stephanie E. Ponder
Global
warming
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you can send it to “The Member Connection,”
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