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When it comes to adopting a cause, she’s ‘The Mighty Quinn’
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
Photo
Eleven-year-old Quinn Barton of Poland supports the proper care for marine life and animals that end up in shelters by adopting sea turtles, using her allowance and the money she earns by baby-sitting her brothers. Photo by: MADELYN P. HASTINGS | THE VINDICATOR
By JoAnn Jones
POLAND
Eleven-year-old Quinn Barton of Poland is a self-described “nerd” who reviews books for her friends, calls Barnes and Noble her favorite store, collects American Girl Dolls and saves up her money to adopt sea turtles, including one named Binx.
“I’m my own person and stand up for what I believe in,” Quinn wrote when she won The Vindicator’s American Girl essay contest in April.
One of her core beliefs is proper care for marine life and animals that end up in shelters.
Attired in an omnipresent hat as well as a necklace and T-shirt she bought to support sea turtles, Quinn recently explained how her interest in sea turtles came about when she visited her great-aunt and great- uncle in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
“Every year I would visit and we would go to Loggerhead Marinelife Center in North Palm Beach,” she said. “I would keep track of the turtles, and I saw one released into the ocean.”
“Binx washed ashore near MacArthur State Park,” she continued, “and he was in these giant tanks with sea turtles in them. One had hit the boardwalk, one had been bitten by a shark, and one had been hit by a boat propeller.”
“He just called to me, ‘Adopt me, adopt me,’” Quinn said. And that’s exactly what she did.
Saving her allowance and money she gets for baby-sitting her brothers Ian, 10, and Griffin, 8, she sends money for his care. Last summer, she and a friend had a lemonade stand and raised $50, all of which they donated for sea turtle care. Quinn said her family also has “a little box of spare change” that is used to support sea turtles.
“Quinn has been going to Florida every summer since she was born,” her mother, Shelly Barton, said. “We have relatives there and go every June, but this year we went in April, too.” She added that the Barton family will travel to Florida again in December for a big family reunion, so Quinn will get to visit Loggerhead a third time this year.
Unfortunately, Binx won’t be there.
Quinn checks his progress regularly through emails and learned that Binx has been transferred to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., because he had some tumors that couldn’t be treated at Loggerhead. She also sends emails to Mote and checks on Binx through their website, where a monthly update is posted for the current and former “patients.”
After becoming acquainted with the Mote Marine Laboratory, Quinn has also adopted four sea turtles that are permanent residents there.
“These turtles are always there,” she said. “At Loggerhead, they try to release them.”
Quinn’s love for the sea turtles has extended to a cousin Layne, who lives in Pittsburgh and visited the Loggerhead site with Quinn in June, and who has now adopted a sea turtle named Gomez.
One of Quinn’s favorite memories of Loggerhead is the “turtle walk” she attended with her father, Daniel, and her grandfather a few years ago.
“They [Loggerhead employees] take you out from 9 to midnight,” she said. “The first night we didn’t see any because it was raining. But the second night my grandfather had night vision goggles and we saw a turtle laying eggs in the sand. Then she went back into the ocean.”
Quinn has been involved in classes and hands-on activities at Loggerhead and plans to go back next summer for a camp.
“Next year the family will wait until July to visit Florida so that Quinn can attend a weeklong camp for her age group at Loggerhead,” Shelly said. “At the camp she’ll get to do a lot more.”
Supporting sea turtles, however, is just one of many of Quinn’s interests. She loves to draw and paint, read and play soccer.
“I play soccer in the spring in the Catholic Youth League,” she said, “and I’m taking art classes at the Butler [Institute of American Art]. Now I’m at the Butler twice a week because I’ve progressed.”
Admitting that she actually began her art “career” by using Sharpies to draw on the walls at her home when she was a toddler, she said has always liked to be creative.
“I became interested in art at the beginning of fourth grade,” she said, holding an acrylic replica of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” “At school we get sketch books that I fill with school assignments and some of my own drawings. I did a sketch of Peeta from Hunger Games, one of the first books I really liked. It got me into reading, and now most of my time is consumed by reading.”
“I’ve read more than 50 books this summer,” Quinn added. “Most of my friends will come to me asking whether they should read a book. If I haven’t read it, I’ll read it and give them a review. I’m the book nerd out of all my friends.”
“I spend a lot of time at the library,” she said, “and Mom loves to read, too.”
“My husband’s uncle was a book buyer for the Philadelphia Public Library,” Shelly said, “and he sent her boxes of books every Christmas when she was little.”
“Barnes and Noble is my favorite store,” she said with a grin, “and I have a Kindle. I get gift cards for books for birthday and Christmas.”
Quinn, who said she really likes school, gets straight A’s at Holy Family School in Poland because “I like to have a sense of accomplishment, and I really like my teachers.” She will start eighth grade at the end of August and hopes to go to Cardinal Mooney High School when she is a freshman.
Volunteering, as well as using her creativity, is a part of Quinn’s plans for the future.
“When I’m 12 in December, I plan on volunteering at Angels for Animals,” she said, adding that her lab mix Lightning was a stray the family had found getting into their trash. “We tried to find the owner for two weeks but ended up keeping him.”
“I’ll probably keep donating to sea turtles, too,” said Quinn, whose career goals include being a cake decorator, an artist or a photographer. “Maybe I’ll even move down there [to Florida]. I plan on being very involved in sea turtle awareness.”