OUR NEW COLLABORATION WITH BENJI'S OF BROOKLYN

When you hear about a mini goldendoodle named Benji, the last thing you would think is that this pampered pet is helping wildlife in South Africa! We chatted with TC Chou, father of Benji and founder of Benji’s of Brooklyn. Read below about how a mini golden doodle in Brooklyn, NYC is helping to raise funds for giraffe, pangolin, zebra, impala, and wildebeest, and more in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa!

Mini goldendoodle, Benji, and Benji’s of Brooklyn sketches.

TC and his husband were two of the many New Yorkers whose apartment felt very empty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, living in NYC “the city that never sleeps” means quite a busy lifestyle with little room or time for caring for pets…but then came March 2020, when New Yorkers found themselves spending more time in their apartments than they ever had before. According to the ASPCA, 1 in 5 households in America acquired a dog or cat since the beginning of COVID-19 - which would account for approximately 23 million households countrywide! In July of 2020, TC and his husband welcomed home an adorable mini goldendoodle and named him Benji!

For TC, sketching had always been a passion, but he never had the time to fully dive into it. With this newfound time at home during the lockdown, he took the opportunity to pick sketching back up and it became quite a therapeutic hobby for him. What started as sketching common objects, then became sketching inspiration around him, and yep you guessed it, Benji his adorable pup! TC started to see this stationary creation as more of a business instead of a hobby when he began creating personalized pet portraits for his friends and family of their cats and dogs. He then had his first sets: the Canine Crew and Feline Family. From these two sets came the bird sighting, architecture, pride NYC sets, Brooklyn, and more putting Benji’s of Brooklyn into full swing! (See all the Benji’s of Brooklyn sets here)

Wild Tomorrow Fund’s relationship started with TC back in 2018 when he attended our year-end gala with his dear friend, and one of our board members, Carol Ciszek. It was here that TC was first introduced to the importance of protecting wildlife and wild spaces. In 2021, the conversation began to collaborate on a set of cards that would raise funds for Wild Tomorrow Fund’s wildlife and habitat protection work in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

TC has always had a love and appreciation for animals, but it was Benji, a mini goldendoodle living in his Brooklyn apartment, that really opened his heart up and inspired TC to help other animals as well; “It was getting Benji that encouraged me to help other animals. There’s this emotional level of animals that you might miss out on without living with or caring for an animal. They actually feel things. They respond to you. They care about you. I feel like it’s very inspiring that I can extend from my own pad of paper in Brooklyn to be able to do something for endangered animals in South Africa, who really need the help!”

The Wild Card 2021 Set includes beautiful prints of a pangolin, a zebra, an impala ram, a giraffe, and a blue wildebeest – all from our Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve (apart from the pangolin, found at our neighbors at The MunYaWana Conservancy). Each of these animals represents conservation in action for us - when Wild Tomorrow Fund first purchased the land in 2017, we had to restore and rewild the habitat. Rewilding meant reintroducing wild species (such as giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and more) to bring back the ecological balance.

Watch the below compilation of some of our wildlife releases.

Footage of wildlife being reintroduced and released on Wild Tomorrow Fund’s Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Wendy Hapgood, co-founder of Wild Tomorrow Fund, says, “It was mostly New Yorkers who sponsored and named these animals we reintroduced. What I found interesting is that most people named them after their dog or their pet here – so we have individually identified Zebra and Giraffe running around that have names such as JJ, Burley, Muki, etc. - which makes an emotional connection to something far away for people in the states.”

Giraffe, in particular, are facing what’s known as “The Silent Extinction” – these tall and elegant animals have slowly and quietly moved closer to extinction due to habitat loss through expanding agriculture. Most people are unaware that three of the currently recognized nine subspecies were listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the latest IUCN Red List. Wild Tomorrow Fund has provided a safe home to 18 giraffe by securing, protecting, and expanding habitat in South Africa.

The pangolin on this set is one of the pangolins rescued from the illegal wildlife trade by the African Pangolin Working Group – after being taken from the wild, it was intercepted from the illegal wildlife trade, rehabilitated, and brought back to health, then released into the wild at our neighbours andBeyond Phinda, part of the MunYaWana Conservancy. In our region, pangolins are estimated to have been locally extinct for 30 years – these individuals being brought back is such positive news for pangolins and a very important reintroduction in our region. We are proud to support pangolin monitoring programs via the donation of equipment and tags, you can read more about Wild Tomorrow Fund’s involvement in pangolin conservation here.

Wendy says “When people think of conservation, they imagine Jane Goodall in the field with her clipboard (which I’m sure everyone would love to do!), but we also need artists, designers, and more to bring their talents to conservation to help protect and restore nature. It’s really inspiring to see what TC and Benji’s of Brooklyn is doing to save wildlife and wild spaces so far away!”

So, maybe TC isn’t on snare patrol with our team of 9 rangers or assisting in the physical monitoring of a pangolin after it’s been released into the wild, but the funds raised from the sale of these special cards will go toward just that!

We are very excited to launch the sale of the Wild Card 2021 Set from Benji’s of Brooklyn. Each set of cards costs $25 and 50% will be donated to Wild Tomorrow Fund (alternatively, single cards are available for purchase). This will be Benji’s of Brooklyn’s first philanthropic card, TC says, “Creating a beautiful card is one thing, but to raise awareness and to help people connect to animals is even better. That was the driver to including an additional description of each animal on the back of the card, so there is more exposure about these animals and our need to protect them.”

You can purchase the set of cards here:

If you attend our year-end gala, this November 19th at Manhattan Penthouse, you can bid on one of the original drawings from TC!

Get your tickets here: