There are so many endangered animals today. Whales, tigers, pandas, golden lion tamarin monkeys and so many more. When we hear about them or think about them it saddens us. But what do we do? We forget about it. After all, what can the average person do to stop the logging and the illegal hunting? The average person doesn’t have the power or resources to effect the kind of massive change it would take to save these animals. So, we feel bad but we file it away as something we can’t change. The truth however is, that one person can help. If a hundred or a thousand or a million of us who think we can’t help just did one small thing, together it would make a big difference. That’s why we must all do our small part. First, we have to learn how.
WWF: World Wildlife Fund
At worldwildlife.org there are 5 ways to make a difference. And not all of those ways require the opening of wallets. Some of them do, because the effort to save animals and the world requires funds, but not all. The first way you can help at WWF is to become a member by making a donation. A one time contribution between 15 and 999 dollars makes you a member of WWF. You can pick a gift to receive for your donation if you donate at least 25 dollars or you can choose to maximize your donation and not receive your gift. Donations of 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 dollars makes you a partner in conservation. There are benefits to being a member or a partner. Members receive alerts about endangered animals and about the rescue and relocation efforts of WWF, progress reports, wwf’s e-newsletter, six issues of WWF’s full color, member’s only newsletter, a WWF membership card, invitations to attend WWF presentations near you and opportunities to travel to wild-life rich destinations. Partners receive everything that members do and in addition they also receive direct access to the Partner’s team with a toll free hot line and email address, named recognition in WWF’s annual report, invitations to conference calls with WWF’s leadership, email and print updates on WWF’s work and accomplishments, WWF Partners wildlife calender, and a genuine cloisonné WWF Partners panda lapel pin.
You can also adopt an animal at worldwildlife.org. Choose from 90 different species. The cost to adopt an animal is 25, 50 or 100 dollars. For $25 you receive an adoption certificate and a photo of the animal. For $50 you receive two plushes, adoption certificate, photo, blue gift bag and an optional gift bag. For $100 you receive two plushes, framed certificate and photo, gift box and an optional gift bag.
The third way that WWF allows you to help is by helping you stay informed. Knowledge is power. You can sign up for WWF’s email that gives you information on conservation news and urgent updates.
My favorite way to help is by taking action. With this feature of the website you can send letters to your congress men and your representatives urging them on different matters such as drilling for oil in Alaska and stricter logging regulations. Right now you can “Urge the president and your senators to move forward on ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” and “Ask your representative to cosponsor the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semi postal Stamp Act.” and “Urge the Obama administration to learn from the Exxon Valdez disaster and make some marine environments off limits to energy development.” and more. If you want to help but you don’t have the money for a donation this is the best way to do it. Let your voice be heard.
The last option at wildlife.org for helping is a link to a few various extra things you can do called “Good Stuff”. You can get a credit card. If you use a Bank of America WWF credit a portion of the sales goes to WWF to help conservation efforts. Live green, there’s links for green weddings, parties for the planets to throw a fund raising party to donate the proceeds to WWF, global warming and tips for going green. Under the Good Stuff section there are also more ways to give such as taking all your coins to coin star and donating the money you get, look into a workplace giving campaign through earth share, use your American express reward points to donate to WWF and much more. The last thing under Good Stuff is information on how you can get aware. Lots of links to sites where you can learn more about our Earth and the animals that inhabit it.
No more excuses. Each and every one of us can do something to help this Earth. Let’s make it a place we’d be happy for our children to live.
Source:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/
