Sunday, December 31, 2006

So You Would Like To Make A Pledge

So you would like to help out in saving the Junin Grebe from extinction by pledging money toward my Delmarva Photo Big Year. It is really simple. First (this is real important) I am not going to see or handle any money. I have set up an email account at savethegrebe@hotmail.com. If you would like to make a pledge just shoot me an email and I will put your name, email, and amount pledged in a folder. At the end of the year I will send you a message letting you know how much money you will need to send to the American Bird Conservancy. For example, if you pledged .05 cents a photo and I took 400 photos then I would send you a message saying that you need to send a check of $20 to ABC (with address of course). It's all real easy. If you would like to make a pledge send me an email and I'll keep your pledge stashed until the end of the year.

Photo Big Year Fundraiser Mission Statement

Tomorrow is going to be the start of a great adventure. I am embarking on a Delmarva Photo Big Year to try to raise money for the Junin Grebe Project. The American Bird Conservancy is a conservation group who are trying to save the endangered and threatened bird species of our hemisphere. ABC has put together a long term project to save the Junin Grebe from extinction. There are less than 300 grebes currently on Lake Junin, a high altitude lake in the Andes of Peru. Due to decreasing water levels from various man made sources and pollution problems on the lake the Junin Grebe has been in a steady population decline since the 1980's. ABC is now in phase two of the project which is to determine the health of the population so survival stratagies can be evaluated.
I want to do my part to help save this animal from extinction. I made a list of all the birds, mammals, reptiles & amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies, and damselflies that have been recorded on the Delmarva Peninsula. The list came to a total of almost 700 species. I am going to try to photograph as many species on the list as possible. What I would like from you is to pledge an amount per photo. Realistically, I believe I can get between 400 and 500 species photographed in a year. If you pledged .05 cents a photo at 400 photos that would only be $20. Not that much money right? But if I can get many .05 cent pledges it will add up. Of course I will take any pledge amount. If you would like to support by just giving a certain amount and not per photo that will be fine as well.
On my photo website www.jimbrighton.smugmug.com I will have a gallery titled Delmarva Photo Big Year where you can keep track of the photos as the year progresses and I plan on keeping a journal here at this site about the adventure. With your help we can save the Junin Grebe from extinction.