Raechel and Jackie’s East-to-West Scavenger Race

Raising Funds to Educate Central American Children

For the second year in a row, The Raechel & Jackie Foundation (RJF) will be hosting their East-to-West Scavenger Race to raise money for children’s education in Central America.

On Saturday September 17, from 3 to 7 p.m., teams of racers will ride their bikes across town and perform various unexpected feats of skill along the way for their chance to win incredible team adventures from local businesses and far away places. No contestant will know the challenges they might encounter, but last year’s event had participants playing Ping-Pong, making coffee art, bouldering, doing Acroyoga, skating with the Derby Girls, and testing their local knowledge of Santa Cruz.

“It’s a really fun event where people find themselves laughing the whole way while doing some of the best activities that Santa Cruz has to offer,” says Sooni Gillett, RJF executive director. “At the same time, we hope to raise some serious funds for our projects in Central America.”

RJF strives to improve educational access, quality and relevance for children in rural areas of Central America who have few traditional opportunities to learn. RJF provides the training, infrastructure, mentoring and networking opportunities to local educators in order for them to build, sustain and scale innovative initiatives far into the future.

“Our approach really starts with investing in relationships,” says Gillett. “The goal of our work is not to create dependency on RJF but rather to build the capacity of the local educators and trainers that children look up to so that they in turn can transfer what they learn to the next generation.”

RJF was founded in 2013 in memory of two local sisters, Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, who were tragically killed in an accident in 2004 while driving a rented car that had been recalled for a safety issue. Prior to their untimely deaths, the girls were planning a trip to Central America to do volunteer work with children. RJF carries out the legacy of their dream.

“Raechel and Jackie’s spirits live on in the work that RJF does,” says Cally Houck, mother of Raechel and Jackie. “It inspires me to make certain that, in spite of our family’s tragedy, their loss leads to greater things.”

In keeping with the free spirits of these remarkable sisters, this year’s scavenger race honors their sense of adventure in another way by encouraging teamwork, a sense of mystery and whimsical fun.

RJF partnered this year with the University of Texas in San Antonio, the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua and local RJF fellow Maria Ignacia Guzman in Nicaragua to provide 27 teachers from 11 rural communities with a resource center that provides teachers with online real-time mentorship support in Spanish and resources for professional development, literacy development, mathematics, and general teacher training.

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For more information, and to register for the East-to-West Scavenger Race, visit crowdrise.com/2016East-to-WestScavengerRace. To learn more about RJF and their programs, visit raecheljackiefoundation.org.