Campaign Taps Youth to Make a Big Conservation Difference with Small Change
NEW YORK, NY: Young people, families, classrooms and service organizations across the country will soon be able to make a measurable difference in helping wildlife and wild places by participating in the National Audubon Society’s Pennies for the Planet (www.penniesfortheplanet.org) educational fundraising campaign.
Pennies for the Planet is a powerful tool for motivating children to learn about and become engaged in protecting biodiversity. This year, participants nationwide will collect change to support three national conservation projects, including:
- Project Puffin and the Seabird Restoration Program off the Maine coast;
- Four Holes Swamp, an ancient swamp that supports otters, owls and rare plants in South Carolina; and
- Wyoming’s “sagebrush sea,” an endangered habitat for pygmy rabbits, sage-grouse and pronghorns.
This year’s Pennies for the Planet campaign is made possible by support from TogetherGreen, an Audubon initiative – in alliance with Toyota - created to promote conservation action and support current and future environmental leaders. Over the last decade, in conjunction with several other environmental organizations, Pennies for the Planet has helped tens of thousands of young people nationwide raise thousands of dollars to support species and habitat conservation.
Pennies for the Planet aims to reach more than 600,000 young people and their families through a partnership with Weekly Reader and distribution through Audubon Adventures. Youth will be encouraged to take part in local activities to help the environment.
Materials including a full color poster and educator’s guide, a newsletter for kids, and a participation form with incentives and awards are available for download from www.penniesfortheplanet.org for classroom or at-home use.
Audubon and Toyota launched the five-year TogetherGreen initiative in 2008 to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders, and offer volunteer and individual action opportunities that significantly benefit the environment. To date, TogetherGreen volunteers in 40 communities have donated more than 20,000 volunteer hours to community conservation efforts. Funding totaling $1.4 million was awarded for the first year of innovative conservation projects nationwide. Forty of the nation’s most promising conservationists will advance their environmental vision and conservation leadership skills as recipients of the first TogetherGreen Fellowships. While www.TogetherGreen.org helps users take individual conservation action and share and celebrate success stories. The TogetherGreen initiative and grants programs are funded by a $20 million Toyota gift to Audubon, the largest in the conservation group’s long history.
Now in its second century, Audubon connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education, and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world. Visit Audubon online at www.audubon.org.
Toyota established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants, with another under construction in Mississippi. Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Through its corporate initiatives, manufacturing operations and philanthropy, Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. In 2007, Toyota contributed more than $57 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S. For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit http://www.toyota.com/community.
Source: Audubon
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