WWF Expands Holiday Catalog
For those of you who like to give during the holiday season, and are stewards of the environment, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has expanded its catalog to provide shoppers an easy way to warm hearts and protect species and their habitats around the world.
Two years ago, WWF launched a 36-page print catalog. Now it’s 72 pages and offers unique gifts such as symbolic animal adoptions and opportunities to support specific conservation projects around the world through donations. The initiatives were selected from a priority list of WWF conservation areas around the world.
When donations are made through the WWF Holiday gift catalog, which showcases over 200 gifts, funds will be used to fight threats like habitat loss and poaching, pollution and climate change. More than 83% of all gifts and donations go directly toward supporting WWF’s vital conservation programs, including an ambitious new conservation initiative in the Amazon that will protect an area the size of California by the year 2010.
The 72-page catalog showcases unique gift-giving ideas at several different donation levels with an emphasis on WWF’s priority places such as the Amazon and Namibia including:
Handmade bracelets from indigenous people in the Brazilian rainforest. These bracelets are made from açai seeds, and by selecting these gifts, donors are helping support alternative, sustainable sources of income for people of the region (donation amount: $50).
A “Bucket of Frogs”– What’s more fun than a bucket of frogs? For a donation of $50, the recipient can give a bucket made from Forest Stewardship Council certified wood with five colorful toy frogs representing species from the Amazon rainforest.
A Meerkat “Mob” - The meerkat is neither a cat nor a monkey, but a member of the mongoose family. They live in groups called “mobs” and often stand at attention to watch for predators. Donate $100, and get the whole family of two adults and three baby meerkat soft plushes for a playful, thoughtful gift.
For more information about the catalog or to place orders by phone call 1-800-CALL-WWF (1-800-225-5993) Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. EDT, Saturday 10 a.m. EDT - 6 p.m. or Sunday 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. EDT. Online orders can be made at www.worldwildlife.org/gifts. Orders received Wednesday, December 17, 2008 by midnight will be delivered in time for Christmas.
Rick Phillips, director of media relations for Creaxion, the public relations firm for WWF, says the holiday gift catalog was expanded to accomodate new gifts, further highlighting priority areas such as the Amazon / Brazilian rainforest. He says previous donors receive the catalog, as well as individuals and groups who have requested it.
Founded 47 years ago, World Wildlife Fund is the largest conservation organization in the world, with 1.2 million members in the U.S. and nearly 5 million supporters worldwide. WWF works in 100 countries on more than 2,000 conservation programs to save endangered species, protect endangered habitats, and address global threats such as deforestation, overfishing, and climate change.
