OUR VOLUNTEERS RETURN AS DEDICATED CONSERVATIONISTS

Volunteer trips to help personally with wildlife conservation work have a special kind of magic. They create not only life-long memories and friendships but also deeper commitments to protecting our planet and its precious biodiversity. Read more about our most recent group of returnee volunteers and how on their return, they’ve accelerated their efforts to support Wild Tomorrow Fund and our conservation work.

The March-April volunteer team enjoying an educational safari drive on Wild Tomorrow Fund’s Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve with our General Manager, Greg Canning.

Our 2022 Conservation Photography Volunteers returned to their less-wild homes this April, but that hasn’t dampened their dedication to protecting wildlife and wild spaces. Their commitment to wildlife conservation has only increased since their return from South Africa after a very special two weeks spent with the Wild Tomorrow Fund team, creating memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

The group was able to experience the monitoring of reintroduced pangolins at Phinda Private Game Reserve using a similar wildlife monitoring system as LoRa. Photo by Amy Zavadil.

It was a relatively small group of 6 volunteers who headed out with Wild Tomorrow Fund this March, hailing from New York City and nearby on the East coast. Upon their return, they immediately rallied to thank our South Africa team by raising $3,200 for a special gift of practical equipment: the LoRA network which can now be implemented at our Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve. This is a monitoring system that will track wildlife at our reserve, including the African wildcat that’s currently acclimatizing in a boma.

Ambassador Charles Chessler leveraged his photographic talents by creating a NYC headshot photography session, with all proceeds donated to our work, and raised an amazing $2,400 for our work. These funds will support teachers’ stipends at the Theleluwazi Creche - where Charles, along with the volunteers, recently put their cameras to work at our annual school photo day.

Terry Opalka’s strong New York accent made her a favorite by our staff on the ground. And in turn, she found her favorite project - the Green Mambas. The Green Mambas are our team of 14 local Zulu women who we employ for our ecosystem restoration work. Terry loved the team’s dedication to their work and providing for their families. When she landed back in New York, she was determined to support them. Employing 14 women as close to full-time as possible is a large financial challenge for Wild Tomorrow Fund. Terry decided to help and ran a Facebook fundraiser then used her company’s matched donation program to raise an additional $1,250 in support of their work. That’s enough funds to employ all 14 women for 2 full weeks of paid work this year.

Terry’s selfie with the Green Mambas team.

Author Hayley Rocco, is writing a series of children’s books on endangered species, including the pangolin. After meeting and walking with a pangolin in the field, she has doubled down on her efforts to protect them by educating young audiences with her book series, illustrated by her husband, John Rocco. Together, they hope to create a special writers and artists group volunteer trip with the goal of putting threatened wildlife on the radar and inside more children's books in the future. Read more about Hayley’s experience in her blog post, A life-changing trip with Wild Tomorrow Fund.

We continue to be amazed by our Ambassadors’ commitment to our cause, taking Wild Tomorrow Fund’s mission with them wherever they go! A special shout out to Barbara Engel, Charles Chessler, and Martin Meyer who were all a part of this very special trip.

Click on the button below to learn more about our life-changing Volunteer Trips, and sign up to join our next group, heading to South Africa from October 2nd to 15th.