Summer is vacation time. The kids are out of school, baseball and T-ball starts and everybody spends lots of time running through sprinklers or turning into wrinkly prunes at the pool. But for the Bells, a local Barrington family, the kids were more concerned about sea turtles.

Like most families, the Bells look at their finances and plan their vacation a year ahead of time. The younger members of the family had already decided what they needed to do when Mom and Dad told them they were going back to Kiawah Island, South Carolina: the turtles needed their help. 

Last year’s trip to Kiawah included a trip to the South Carolina Aquarium where they learned about the Sea Turtle Rescue program. When an unhealthy sea turtle is found along the coast, it is brought to the turtle hospital by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources where animal care staff can begin to monitor and treat the animal.

“I think the coolest thing about the turtle hospital is how they help all the sick and injured turtles,” said six-year-old Giana.

“My favorite part of the Sea Turtle Hospital was seeing the turtle that had a shark bite in his shell,” shared eight-year-old Grayson. 

The hospital is a place for turtles such as these to heal and receive the care they need.

“The kids wanted to donate their money after visiting the hospital last year and seeing all the turtles that needed help,” shared Mom, Diane Bell.  “They wanted to help save turtles, since they love the beach so much and want to protect them.”

So while Mom and Dad saved for the family vacation, the three kids started saving their pennies for the Turtle Hospital. Nothing was beyond sharing with the turtles:  birthday money, chore money and any other pennies that came their way, part of that money was set aside to help their turtle friends in need.

By the time vacation arrived, after they helped Mom pack their clothes and emptied their Sea Turtle savings into their pockets and purses, they were ready.

When they visited the hospital this year, they had a donation to help and the staff appreciated it. The Sea Turtle Rescue program is funded with donations, so like every not-for-profit-organization, every penny matters. 

The pennies of the littlest members of the Bell family had found a home and they had helped the turtles they found fascinating.

“I like the turtle hospital because I got to learn all different things about turtles,” said ten-year-old Geneva. “I learned turtles can’t get mosquito bites.”

“All of the kids just really wanted people to learn about sea turtles, like they did. They wanted to protect the beach by picking up trash or filling up sand holes because the turtles can get stuck in them. ” Mom shared.  “They really wanted to help.”

What’s the saying?  A penny saved is a turtle helped...or something like that.