Fundraising to Fight Extinction

Inspiring people to fight wildlife extinction is an important part of Zoos Victoria’s conservation work. This is especially true for young people, as they will inherit the natural world we’re working to preserve. The hope is to empower the younger generations to take action – big or small –just like nine-year-old animal-lover Arabella. After reading about some children who ran a lemonade stand fundraiser,

Arabella was inspired to do something, too. Although her favourite animal is the echidna, she wanted to choose a species that really needed support. With her mum’s help, she learned about the Critically Endangered Leadbeater’s Possum (Lowland) listed as a Fighting Extinction priority species on the Zoos Victoria’s website. “I chose them because they were so cute, and also because there are less than 40 left in the wild… I didn’t want them to go extinct, because it’s sad when animals go extinct,” she says.

Arabella started fundraising at her seventh birthday party, asking people to donate money instead of buying her presents.

“I thought it was a good idea because when I get presents, sometimes I get too many to play with. I also thought it would be a fast way to raise money,” she says.

To encourage donations, Arabella made posters with information about the Leadbeater’s Possum and a QR code that led directly to her GoFundMe page.

“I felt like I was doing something good. I was proud of myself,” says Arabella. Her party and other fundraising efforts throughout 2021 raised $2,000, but there was more work to do to reach her $5,000 goal.

“I was on the Junior School Council last year and I helped organise a fundraiser,” Arabella says. “We had a possum week at my school with possum face-painting and possum masks at recess for a gold-coin donation.” She’s also talked about her fundraising efforts and shared Leadbeater’s Possum facts at school assemblies. As a result, she raised another $500 and inspired her classmates to host their own fundraisers.