Operation Dinoblasters

Dear Awesome Foundation,
For two years I have been a volunteer. I am an AmeriCorps member serving at DotWell in Dorchestah and I have a brilliant idea: Dinosaurs. I serve (not allowed to say work) with kids in a Boston Public School called the Joseph Lee Elementary. The students there are OBSESSED with dinosaurs. One student, Devon, tells me all there is to know, “Have you ever seen a plateosaurus? They grow up to 10 meters tall!!” By the way, did you know a pterodactyl is not considered a dinosaur? It’s in fact a pterosaur.
Let me tell you a bit about myself. I am Colin Hunt, a 23 year old graduate of the University of Vermont, an Adirondack 46er (#5427) and a recent convert to veganism. I love to hike (hence the climbing the 46 highest peaks in New York) and am an adventureholic. Last year, I taught Tai Chi and yoga to senior citizens in Burlington, Vermont for my first year of service with AmeriCorps. Now, I am a transplant to Boston. Here, I am trying to make a difference by hooking up under-privileged families with much needed community resources.
Originally, I am from Washington, D.C: a city full of dinosaurs. This is where Project Dinoblasters comes into play. As a well traveled, adventureholic, I have had the privilege to learn outside of my community. I want to bring that privilege, that right, to my kids in Dorchester. Many students are confined by resources, unable to even get out of Dorchester to see the museums of Boston. I am dreaming big and I want to bring these kids to my hometown. My dinoland. There, we would turn the kids into archeologists, initiating a city-wide 24 hour treasure hunt! A treasure hunt for what? Dinosaurs of course.
Devon is the kind of kid with a perpetual goofy grin on his face. At the age of 7, he is already positive he will be professional paleontologist. I once made the ‘mistake’ of telling him that I had seen a Tyrannosaurus Rex at a museum in D.C. Since that day, Devon has been exuberantly interrogating me on every single dinosaur I have ever seen. To help make dreams like Devon’s come true, I would love to help inspire an overnight trip to the museums in Washington, District of Dinosaurs.
Thanks for your consideration,
Colin Hunt

For your imagination and entertainment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PPf3aaZmUw

Funded by Boston, MA (November 2011)