**UPDATE** Due to the coronavirus crisis, we will be using the funds from this fundraiser to help support all 5 of our elephants at this time. Anything extra raised, will also be helping us support and feed the 50+ elephants in our area who have now had to return home , many with no other means of support.
On 8th April, our staff and intern team (Terrill, Aislinn, Cami, Kerri, Alex, Carly) will be fundraising by completing a 10km run through the jungle to raise some much needed funds for Dodo!
Dodo is our newest rescue, having joined us in September 2018, previously due to his unpredictability, his owner and mahouts have had very little options and he lived a hard life of constant constraint and confinement as many people have felt unsafe around him. Thankfully since joining us at KSES, he has become a new elephant and is content with no longer having to work and having the freedom to just be an elephant has made him very calm. Observing this amazing change has been such a privilege! But the hard work is far from over, due to our low budget we can only keep Dodo long-term through fundraising. As of right now, we have enough funding to cover his costs until the beginning of May 2020. We are trying to raise enough funds to cover him until atleast July 2020, keep reading below to find out how you can help us.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?!
At KSES, we do not buy our elephants for many reasons, including the demand that this creates for the illegal wildlife trade - i.e. bringing wild elephants into captivity - instead, we work WITH the local communities and pay our elephant owners a monthly compensation to keep their elephants. This monthly compensation allows our elephant owners to continue to feed their families and means that their elephants do not have to work anymore.
The cost of keeping Dodo roaming in the forest for 1 day is $22/£18/700THB
The cost of keeping Dodo in the forest for 1 month is $660/£550/21,000THB
The cost of keeping Dodo in the forest for 2 months is $1320/£1100/42,000THB
Why do we need to fundraise?
As a small non-profit foundation, we often struggle to provide enough funding to provide for our elephants and community as well as our running costs. This year’s low-season is especially low, largely to do with the corona virus scare and we have very few bookings which means we will be struggling to provide for our first four elephants. This means we cannot use project running costs to cover Dodo’s expenses and we can only provide for him with fundraising.
Help us!
We need YOUR help! There are several ways in which YOU can help us raise the funds we need.
1. Donate to our fundraiser using the donate button to the right.
2. Set-up your own fundraiser - please do get in touch if you are interested in setting up your own event, we can provide advice and guidance.
3. Share our fundraiser with your family and friends and help us reach more people!
Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is a registered Foundation in Thailand and has been active for nearly 4 years. We really do appreciate any support big or small that can be contributed towards our elephants.
You can find out more about us, our aims and our projects on our website and facebook below:
www.kselephantsanctuary.com www.facebook.com/kselephantsanctuary Thank you all so much for your support.
The Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary Team xx
