A 10-year-old boy from Brush Prairie is working to raise money to pay for badges, promotions and encampments to support his involvement in the Lewis and Clark Young Marines by helping his parents sell eggs at their farm.
Noah Millikan, with Noah’s Farm Fresh Eggs, receives $1 for every dozen eggs the family sells. Millikan also mows lawns and does yardwork to raise additional funds.
“I love (the Young Marines),” Millikan said. “It gets me moving. I like the physical aspect. We did a swimming test and I got first class on that. I like that they teach us not to do drugs.”
Noah’s mother, Aliina, said the family has been involved with the Young Marines since August of last year.
“As a whole, (the Young Marines) are a drug and alcohol reduction program,” Aliina said. “They are somehow affiliated with the actual Marines. For instance, if Noah were to go through (the Young Marines) until he was 18 and went up to a certain rank, he would be a higher rank if he joined the actual Marines than most other (recruits).”
She noted a recent activity Noah participated in was planting flags at the Willamette National Cemetery in Oregon for Memorial Day.
“They do quite a bit for the community, and on their website, there’s a request for volunteer opportunities,” she said.
Aliina is proud of her son and all he’s accomplished so far in such a short amount of time as well.
“I really have been pleased with this program,” Aliina said. “We’re busy people and the activities that we choose are intentional. If it wasn’t worth it, we wouldn’t be in it. I really respect the pride of the country and how (the Young Marines) teaches these kids what our country was built on and how we lost that as a country.”
She said she also enjoys how the Young Marines teaches kids to “think outside themselves” and to engage in their community as they strive to leave it better than they found it.
“I like that they are very intentional about telling them to get up and move and don’t sit in front of your TV or play video games,” Aliina said. “Your body needs activity and we need to be doing things and not just engaging in the TV or media.”
At this time, Aliina said the family has 30 chickens on their farm which they source the eggs from. They also have five Nigerian dwarf goats, two dogs, and a cat.
“The goats are really fun,” Millikan said. “They love jumping on my lap when I sit down to pet them and they love eating my clothes.”
Part of the reason Aliina does the project with Noah is to help him grow as a person.
“Noah is our fifth child,” she said. “We’re big on making our kids earn things. We do not give out anything freely. Appreciating the dollar and respecting its worth is a big deal to us. We are not a handout kind of parents, so learning (these things) from an early age is important to us.”
The page for Noah’s Farm Fresh Eggs can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/Noahs-Farm-Fresh-Eggs-101033119299566
