Saving the Penguins

For Blog Action Day October 15, I would like to describe Alice and Miriam's recent fund-raiser, which they created themselves. Their goal is "to save the penguins." To do this, they have made greeting cards and sold them to their relatives. They are sending the money to The Center for Biological Diversity. At left is an example of a card that they made.

Children in preschool and elementary school like Miriam and Alice are constantly asked to participate in fund-raisers. They know about walk-a-thons, read-a-thons, gift wrap sales, Girl Scout cookies, bake sales, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and lots of other possibilities.

Apparently, they have also learned about impending dangers to the environment. Sadly, many species of penguin are badly endangered by global warming. We chose The Center for Biological Diversity because of its efforts to have more penguin species declared as endangered, and also because the Charity Navigator site awards them a 4-star rating, meaning they use contributions wisely. The Center's website has the following summary:

More than half of the world’s 19 penguin species are in danger of extinction, yet only one, the Galapagos Penguin, is currently listed under the Endangered Species Act.

On November 28, 2006, the Center petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list 12 of the world’s 19 penguin species under the Endangered Species Act. This protection would provide a vital safety net for these species on the brink of extinction, and also help alert the public to the preventable tragedy of their decline.

Miriam and Alice must really be picking up the spirit of the times. Their fund-raiser fits in with both Al Gore's Nobel Prize and with Blogger Action Day.