It takes a community to save a species!
Saving a species from the brink of extinction is a daunting task. We could not succeed alone. Here are some recent examples of the many ways people are rallying to help save our enigmatic marmot.
Jessica Barrett had a great idea to help her students understand the significance of locale in the habitats unit of her Grade 4 Science class at Withrow Junior Public School. After exploring Canada’s most endangered mammal on the internet, her students were tasked with designing an educational poster on their findings. As you can see the results were fantastic! Donations were made in each student’s name to help with the recovery work. Thank you Room 232!
Kohl Lang, Michael Sherinian and Nick Sinclair all the way from Dowling Catholic School in Des Moine, Iowa were amazed when they saw a common groundhog one day during Biology class. The boys were so intrigued they researched further to find that groundhogs are members of the marmot family and share the nickname “Whistle Pig”. They also discovered the groundhog’s cousin, the Vancouver Island marmot, is critically endangered.
The boys jumped into action to create a Facebook page called “Save the Whistle Pigs” to educate people about the perils the marmots are facing. They raised money to help by selling “Save the Whistle Pigs” wristbands – and sold 200 wristbands in two days! Way to go boys!
Graeme, Ally, Justin, Rahana and Sunny, Bachelors of Commerce students at Royal Roads University on Vancouver Island, raised over $1,500.00 for the marmots in the university’s 2011 Venture Challenge. The Venture Challenge is a funds and awareness raising contest between students for charitable campaigns of their choice. Team Marmot used a variety of fundraising techniques – like selling marmot droppings (made of chocolate) at the local mall – to win first place at the Awards Gala!
Glen Husband, president of the TELUS Ambassadors Nanaimo Branch, presents a big cheque to Don Doyle, Chair of the Marmot Recovery Team from the TELUS Employees Matching Contributions Program to help with recovery efforts.
Kelli Etheridge, of Etheridge Photographic sent proceeds from a special Groundhog Day photo session to help the marmots. See Kelli’s amazing baby photos at www.etheridgephotographic.com
Tell us what you’re doing in your community to help the marmots and you may see yourself featured here.