A bunch of us have spent this week with the Red Frogs at Schoolies in Australia. Check this out.

Schoolies Week is a 3 week celebration held for Year 12 School
Students at the completion of their School Year. For the majority of
Students it will be the first time they experience a holiday without
their family. The event itself has been operating for over 19 years and
is now in 17 locations around Australia and 3 locations in South
Africa.

Andy Gourley, Founder and Director of Red Frogs
Australia, was a youth worker visiting one of his friends at Schoolies
Week when he saw an overwhelming need for young people to be kept safe
as they celebrated their Schoolies Week.

At Schoolies Week
Celebrations Red Frogs Australia has 3 main roles; Visitation,
Referral, Mediation and Diversionary Activities.

The Red Frog
Crew, made up of over 600 volunteers, aim to support Schoolies through
their week long celebrations and provide a positive presence amongst
their partying culture. They also assist Schoolies by walking young
people home, cooking pancakes, room cleans, handing out Allen’s Red
Frogs and offering emotional support through what can often be a
challenging week.

Red Frogs Entertainment is the best of it’s
kind and Schoolies love the craze of the Red Frog Stage at locations on
the Gold Coast and Airlie Beach.

WHAT THE HECK IS A RED FROG?

Allen’s Frogs Alive Red Frogs have been our ‘icebreaker’ for the
past 11 years, since our inaugural induction into Schoolies on the Gold
Coast in 1997. Starting with only 80 kilos in our first year, Red Frogs
Australia will distribute over 9 tonne of Red Frogs in 2008!

Every
type of lolly (lolly is a candy) imaginable have been tried and tested on the youths, but
Allen’s Frogs Alive Red Frogs reign supreme and are definitely the most
popular confectionary in Australia for Schoolies, University students
and today’s young party goers across the globe.

The humble Red
Frog is a connect point between over 60,000 Schoolies around the nation
and our massive force of over 1800 volunteers.

I got to speak to the 600 volunteers at their Tuesday night chapel. This was the coolest thing ever. Seriously, 600 young people there to serve.

The guy who started this, Andy has become a friend and guy we can’t wait to get to vegas to check out what we do.

No Thanksgiving Turkey in Australia. That is two years in a row without Thanksgiving. Last year we were all in London for the show there. We did celebrate Thanksgiving at the local Hard Rock Cafe here in Australia.

http://www.redfrogs.com.au/

http://www.schoolies.com