All of us know someone that we would love to introduce to this
great sport. The advent of high use fees in certain areas may be
a big disincentive to some less fortunate people.

Recently, at the South Sound Quest Fest gathering in Lakewood
Wa, Mischief graciously (along with several other individuals)
brought excess letterboxing supplies to be placed in a donation
box. New people who came to the gathering were encouraged
to look into the donation box and take whatever supplies they
could use themselves. At least one newbie recieved supplies
from this box at the event. This is the spirit of giving and sharing
that all letterboxers possess. We have all found an activity that
brings us great pleasure and promotes good health, we all want
to share this great activity with others.

I propose that we take a collection from among our local
letterbox regulars that we could use to 'sponsor' new recruits in
the sport. We could coordinate these sponsorships by having a
local letterboxer nominated as administrator or a group elected
as a council and then when one of us finds someone that we
would like the group to help out, we could submit a sponsorship
recommendation for the administrator or council to review.
Funds collected could be used to pay for annual park passes for
the newcomers, purchase carving tools and media, log books,
compass, etc.

We could also use funds to sponsor events targeted at helping
those less likely to be able to participate in the sport get involved.
Kids Day events, special events for the Physically Handicapped
or mentally disabled. Another side benefit is that if we did these
types of events it may lend much credibility to our organization
when gaining permission to place boxes within certain
jurisdictions (ie NPS or State Park Systems).

All the while, we can still as individuals, sponsor individuals by
lending tools, media, supplies, etc, and giving individuals the
gifts of yearly passes and such. It may however, be easier for
those who are on limited funds to participate in the giving aspect
of the sport by participating in a group effort. There is a blessing
in recieving a gift but there is much more blessing in giving a gift.
This may be a way for us to help those less fortunate recieve the
greater blessing of giving at a level that is appropriate to their
situation.

This is just my idea, I would appreciate some discussion on
this.

Nailhead.