Cheetah Conservation Fund

There are many ways that kids can help cheetahs. Raising money to send to help CCF's work is one way. Sometimes kids get together to Save a Wild Cheetah in their classrooms or send a Cheetah Sponsorship with support of family. Sometimes they raise money by baking pies like Kylie or have concerts like Brittany—or like Sadie & Mackenzie invent other creative opportunities. Raising money is only one way—telling your friends and families about the plight of the endangered cheetah is another...

Here are a few of the many stories about amazing kids that have chosen to help CCF to save cheetahs from extinction. A BIG THANKS FROM THE CCF TEAM—pretty amazing group of Kids4Cheetahs out there! 

Is it your birthday? Many kids have asked for donations for CCF instead of birthday gifts. Create your birthday wish page:

• Join the CCF Cause on Facebook    

• Build your own fundraising page. Go to www.firstgiving.com   and search for Cheetah Conservation Fund.

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February 2013: Carter's Cat Family book

Carter has long had a love for Cheetah’s and other big cats. About 18 months ago he had this idea of publishing his own book about the big cats of the world and to sell it to make money to help preserve them. After much research, formatting and editing- he had a final version of Cat Family 1. He then went around the neighbourhood selling the books for $10 each, and successfully sold 20 copies. The proceeds from the sale of the first book went to a local animal shelter. Then a few months later  he researched and published Cat Family 2. He then sold that around the neighbourhood and dedicated the proceeds ($100) to Cheetah Conservation Fund

CCF had the chance to interview Carter:

Q: Why did you decide to do a CCF fundraiser?

A: Because of the trustful staff workers and since they always do their best to save the cheetahs and always have great success so I chose the CCF to help them. Also because I have always liked big cats especially cheetahs and I wanted to help them survive in the wilderness and have good  care if they ever get hurt.

Q: What was the best thing about your experience?

A: Always seeing the smile from the customers helping me achieve my goal to donate money towards the CCF

January 2013: Dorian decides to help, and raises $300!

CCF staff were so moved by this story we had to share:

When Dorian was five and a half years old, he told his father that he wanted to grow up faster.  His dad asked him why, and he said he was afraid that by the time he was 20 all the wild cheetahs would be gone and so it would be too late for him to try to help save them.  

Dorian's dad told him not to worry because he didn't have to wait to help the cheetahs. They talked about how he might help even while he is still a kid. Dorian decided to ask all of his family to give money instead of toys, so that he could donate to help save cheetahs for his sixth birthday.  Dorian raised $300.

Thanks Dorian!

July 2012: Isabelle hosts "Africa Camp" and Raises $1200 for cheetahs!

Isabelle Busch hosted an "Africa Camp" for nine other kids -- three days of fun filled activities that included making masks and a messenger bag.  Campers dined on "cheetah-spotted" pizza for lunch and did projects from a CCF Cheetah workbook. The proceeds from Isabelle's camp totalled $1200!  We're so grateful to Isabelle for all her hard work on CCF's behalf.  This is her 6th fundraiser for CCF! 

Isabelle's Cheetah Mask Project

Materials:

Mask face forms, could be plastic or paper mache, paper mache works better (http://www.dickblick.com/products/creativity-street-papier-mache-masks/)

Egg cartons or other cardboard, or tagboard…

Acrylic paints (browns, black, metallic gold, other)  Watercolor would also work on paper mache, and would be nontoxic. 

Brushes

Water containers

Copper wire or pipe cleaners for whiskers

Yarn for ties

Paper punch

Glue gun

Instructions

1) Cut out ear shapes and nose shape out of cardboard egg cartons or other sturdy material, bend into a 3D shape and glue with glue gun onto mask.

2) Paint with acrylics to mimic fur.  Let dry.  Add tear marks, spots, nose with black paint.

3) Poke holes for whiskers (3 each side worked well).  Thread each end of the pipe cleaner or wire through an opposing side from the back.  This way the wires stay in without glue.

4) Punch a hole on either side of the mask about eye level to tie yarn to use as a tie to hold mask on.

July 2012: Eliana takes initiative and tells her story!

Hi my name is Eliana Groves and I am 8 years old.  I decided to raise money to save cheetahs because they are so beautiful and I read that they were endangered.  That made me very sad.  It made me want to save them.  I did a research project for my school and made a poster board about cheetahs and told my class all about them.  I then made a T-shirt saying "Save the Cheetahs".  I raised $70 dollars at our summer fair asking for donations and letting people know about cheetahs.  I hope to make a difference in trying to save the cheetah and help the CCF however I can.   My dream is to travel to Africa and see a cheetah in the wild and touch one.  - Eliana

July 2012: Pacoima Middle School Learns About Soraya! 

Class teacher and CCF supporter, Jodi Howard, gave her 6th grade classes at Pacoima Middle School a project to fundraise in conjunction with their ecology unit, learning to understand living things and their environment, environmental issues, biomes and human influences on animal habitats. They made posters told stories to the students and staff at school, their neighborhood and families, about CCF cheetah Soraya and what CCF is doing to help cheetahs.  They also collected over $600 to help Soraya!  The class took special note of its biggest contributors: Chirsitan Llamas, Brian Hurtado, Cecilia Oceguedo, Jasmine Pelayo, Vivana Avalos, Ariel Lucia, Isidiro Cruz, Nick Rivas and Vivian!  

May 2012: Cherrydale Does it Again!!!

As Cherrydale Cheetahs, we’re committed to “helping others”, which is part of our school-wide PeaceBuilders Pledge (see www.peacebuilders.com).  One way we help others for Earth Day each year is by collecting donations to send to CCF.  This year Cherrydale Cheetahs collected $1,873.77 to send to this worthy organization!  We’ve “adopted” a cheetah named Ron at the CCF.  As is our tradition every year for Earth Day, our staff, students and families participated in a “Cheetah Walk” around the school grounds including our nature trail. Every student received a Cherrydale Cheetah dog tag to commemorate the event, thanks to our Cherrydale PTA.  We enjoyed another great Earth Day celebration together.

May 2012: Cookies and cheetahs.

Kieran in California is a 5-year old kindergarten student who chose the cheetah as his endangered animal to study and raise money for, because it is the fastest land animal. In his research, he came upon the CCF and chose to have his part of the cookie sale, $90.00, contributed to CCF. This is an annual fundraising event that these Montessori kindergarten students do every year. They sit in front of the school and sell cookies for endangered animals! Kieran also liked that the cheetah could eat a whole gazelle and that it had thousands of spots.  He hopes to go to Namibia some day to see the cheetahs for himself.

March 2012: Never too young to save cheetahs!

Duncan just turned 4, and he loves cheetahs. "My name is Duncan, I am four years old, and my favorite animal is the cheetah.  Cheetahs run fast just like me!  I am excited to tell you that my friends helped to save many baby cheetahs. For my birthday, I asked that all of my friends make a donation to help save my favorite animal by donating money to CCF instead of bringing a gift to my party.  We raised almost $650 dollars!  One day I hope to come and volunteer on your cheetah farm in Namibia." Duncan attends a Montessori school in Florida and, with his mom's help, will create a board in his classroom to brainstorm other ways to help cheetahs. Bravo Duncan!!!  Click here to vew Duncan's thank-you video on Facebook.

December 2011: Cheetahs and lemonade do mix!

This is an e-mail sent to Dr. Laurie Marker by 10-year-old Gillian from Canada:

My name is Gillian and I am ten and a half years old. Cheetahs are my favourite animal in the whole world. You are my hero because you work to try to save the cheetahs from extinction. I think you are better than any rock star or singer. I love cheetahs so much some days I even dress up like one. Last year for my school speech I did it on cheetahs so that my class mates could also learn ways to save the cheetahs. Last summer I held a bake table and lemonade stand and raised one hundred and twenty three dollars in donations for the CCF which we sent in already. Thanks for all your great work and I understand if you are too busy to write me back. Sincerely,  Gillian 

Note: Dr. Marker was so touched by Gillian's e-mail that she did write to her a very nice e-mail thanking her for her amazing efforts.

September 2011: Lauren's Paintings for Animals

Lauren, 12,  has a passion for animals like no other. In her own words: "I also love painting and I am very talented. I have been painting pictures with acrylic on canvases and now I am selling them for $25 each minimum donation. All of the profits from the paintings go to either The Cheetah Conservation Fund, The Homeless Pets Foundation, or The World Wildlife Fund. I hope you enjoy my paintings so look around!"   Click here to visit Lauren's web site and see some of her beautiful paintings.

August 2011: School in Texas come up with a great concept -- Pouches for Paws!

Andrea holds a PTA position on the local new Elementary school and their mascot is the cheetah.  Andrea wanted to bring awareness to the children of the school how important it is to support a beautiful animal that may one day become extinct. She came up with an idea to collect empty juice pouches, and identified a company to give them money for them.  They created the "Pouches for Paws" program and the class that collected the most pouches would get to choose which cheetah our school adopted for ever!
 
The children collected 11,000 pouches in the time frame of 6 weeks raising $223.  The class picked Quasar..... so he is the cheetah that they will send all of profits from this great program! 

June 2011:They're only 6 and 10, but they're passionate and resourceful!

We recently visited with Dr. Marker while she was in Denver on her US tour on May 17, 2011.  Kara, 10, and her brother Luke, 6, raised money by asking friends and family to donate, and then educating everyone on why the cheetah needs their help.  They also searched everywhere they went for loose change and added this money to their donation.  Their father’s company, Walton Design & Remodeling, agreed to match however much they could raise.  This is Kara’s second donation to CCF and her brother’s first.  They were excited to present Dr. Marker with two checks totaling almost $200.00.  Thanks so much for inspiring my children to be passionate about making change in our world! Sincerely,  Krista W.

June 2011: A school in California raises $660 to help the wild cheetah survival.

CCF Southern California reports as school lets out for summer that we have a VERY special class of Jodi Howard in Pacoima Middle School  in Los Angeles for their extrarodinary fundraising efforts in raising $660 for the Cheetah Conservation Fund! Pacoima Middle School ROCKS and is to be commened for their efforts and endeavors towards the preservation of the cheetah! The class has chosen to sponsor CCF's resident cheetah Phoenix with this donation.

October 2010: Lily --just 7 years old-- and already making a huge difference!

Lily is seven years old and a second grader in St. Louis, Missouri.  After reading Caring for Cheetahs by Rosanna Hansen in Kindergarten, she has been passionate about trying to save cheetahs from extinction.  Lily was granted permission by her school to have an educational/fundraising booth at her school carnival in October 2010.  Through the help of CCF-US and the St. Louis Zoo, Lily held a drawing in which donors could win various prizes, including a cheetah poster, bookmarks, wristbands, cheetah.org antennae balls, and zoo train passes.  Lily successfully raised $138.79 for CCF.  She is very proud that she could make a difference in the world and really help save her favorite animal, the cheetah!

May 2010: Arizona Girl Scouts sponsor Little Rohini Tallala.

May 2010: Vitoria in California made a video about conserving cheetahs. Click here to watch it on YouTube, and then maybe you can make your own!

May 2010: Raising Awareness about Cheetahs in France.

Kids all over the world understand the importance of wildlife conservation. Here is a letter from Sharon Lovichi, an English teacher in France, about a great awareness project. Bravo to all the students, and especially to those who chose the cheetah!

3rd-year Art and English pupils at Léonard Lenoir Secondary School in Bordeaux took part in a project about endangered species. The idea was to make them more aware of how their behaviour can impact directly upon the environment and ultimately wildlife. Each group had to choose an animal and an organisation that actively campaigns for that animal's conservation. The group in question chose the Cheetah because they were shocked by the drastic drop in number of the species in recent years, and the Cheetah Conservation Fund because of it exclusive focus on the Cheetah. The groups created a poster (see photo) and presented their work to the class in a PowerPoint slide show. Following this, the classes worked on global warming and deforestation. All in all, most of the pupils were visibly moved by the fact that many species are threatened with extinction. Sharon Lovichi

May 2010: Jon and Michael making the difference at the Chicago Run for the Cheetah.

Jon Paul is from Omaha, Nebraska and came with his family to the Run for the Cheetah in Chicago to sell his adorable cheetah bookmarks ~ all proceeds were donated to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. He raised funds through sales of these bookmarks prior to coming to the run and also sold many at the run, for a total of over $400! His passion is the cheetah and trying to help CCF save the cheetah in the wild. His amazing efforts truly are making a difference and we were delighted to have him join our run. He also was the winner of this cool stuff cheetah that was raffled off at the event. How fitting!

Michael (pictured with his sister and mom) sold baked goods to support CCF. Here is a letter from Michael: My name is Michael and I am eight years old, a Bear rank in Cub Scouts, in third grade, and live with my mom, sister, 2 dogs, and fish. I love to read lots of books and I especially love animals. Cheetahs are my favorite animal and they are in danger of becoming extinct, but we can help. Helping to make the world a better place is fun work. I went to the Chicago Cheetah Run for the Cheetah Conservation fund. Now that you know about me, here’s a question for you, “How would you like to help me save the cheetahs?” Cheetahs need our help because they are an endangered species. They are losing their habitat and do not adapt well to new environments. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and they are in a race for survival. Please, seriously, help the cheetahs.

January 2010: Once again, Isabelle celebrates her birthday Cheetah style!

Isabelle's 8th birthday party was a great success! The kids had a lot of fun rollerskating in their cheetah shirts. They put their cards and donations in the purse the guard cheetah was holding. When they left, Isabelle thanked them for helping the cheetahs and gave them each a bundle of cheetah fun (see Amy with cheetah workbook, etc). That night she and her two girlfriends who were spending the night opened the cards and totaled up the donations...$170! I do believe we've started a trend toward giving...the birthday party next weekend is collecting food for the animal shelter.

December 2009: 2009 Holiday Fair in Chicago to save money for the wild cheetah

My third year at the St. Chrisostoms Holiday Fair was a success! Once again, I had a great time doing it and helped save the wild cheetah! My two friends, Sophia and Jax, and my sister Nina, helped me raise almost $1000! My sister also raised almost $500 dollars for the Asian elephant. Like last year, the purring cheetah was our best seller. We sold 28! Next, was the Cheetah for Kids book which was my personal favorite because of all of the cool pictures. I don't think a lot of people get to do what me and my friends did. It is something that I hope to do again over the next couple years. My friends and I feel that it is a real accomplishment that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We are very happy that the money is going to a good cause and happy that we can help save the cheetah. - Madeline S.

November 2009: A 5-year old reads 51 books to help cheetash!

 Hello. My name is Connor. I wanted to help the cheetahs so I started a read-a-thon to raise money for the CCF. My goal was to read at least one or two chapter books each week over my summer vacation...and I did ! By the end of the summer, l read 51 books and raised $1,695.75. l feel really happy that so many of my family and friends sponsored me. I hope that the money I was a able to raise will help the cheetahs somehow!

October 2008: Lasya's Cheetah donation boxes.

Lasya is seven years old. Ever since she could talk she has been talking about cheetahs. Last year her parents explained to her that the cheetahs are in danger of becoming extinct, and she wanted to do something to help. They searched the internet and found Kids4Cheetahs. After much thought about the different things she could do, and what options were available to her for reaching people, she decided to make six different donation boxes and asked to put them at several of our friends stores around her home town of Madrid, New Mexico. Over the next several months she collected $290.00 from customers and friends, and decided after looking at the donation options, to sponsor Harry. Everyone was surprised by the success of the donation boxes. Lasya will be putting them out again when the next tourist season begins.  Nice job, Lasya!!!

September 2009: Cheetah Visits Cherrydale Primary School in Steilacoom, Washington for Earth Day

Earth Day 2009 was a memorable occasion for Cherrydale Primary School students. The school’s official “mascot” is a cheetah. In past the cheetah mascot (with colorful cherries on its coat instead of spots) has participated in other special school events.

Thanks to the school’s PTA, students enjoyed a visit from Taini, the cheetah, from Wildlife Safari in Oregon. Kids and staff members were suitably impressed. Taini was the highlight of the school’s Earth Day celebration that included an hour-long fund-raising walk around the school’s grounds. There even was a water station set up for thirsty walkers who circled the walk’s course.

Proceeds raised during the walk ($1,069.37), were donated to support the school’s “adopted” Cheetah—Ron, who lives at CCF in Namibia. As Cherrydale Cheetahs, the students are committed to "helping others", which is part of Cherrydale's school-wide PeaceBuilders Pledge (see www.peacebuilders.com). One way they help others, said Cherrydale Counselor Lanae Olson, is by raising money each year to send to CCF in Namibia, Africa.

August 2009: A Cheetah Bike Races for the Cheetah!

Ella is a five year old kindergartener from Portland, Oregon, who is passionate about cheetahs.  Last year, she learned about cheetahs and CCF at the Oregon Zoo's Run for the Cheetah.  She brought the CCF envelope home emtpied her piggy bank into that envelope.  Since then, she has been learning as much as she can about cheetahs and how she can help them.  Ella loves to ride her bike, and came up with the idea of riding as far as she can to raise money for CCF.  She has ridden her cheetah bike with training wheels more than 50 miles in the first two months, and has collected almost $150 for CCF so far, which she sent in to the Chewbaaka challenge to have it doubled.  Ella also celebrated her fifth birthday by having a Save the Cheetah party, with friends who brought donations for CCF from their piggy banks, painted their faces like cheetahs, and played games to learn about cheetahs.  Ella plans to keep riding for the cheetahs as long as she can and is sure that kids can make a big difference in helping this amazing animal.

August 2009: A Cheetah Kick-a-Thon!!!

Kara is 8 ½ years old and a 3^rd grader at Mt. Carbon Elementary in Littleton, CO.  She has always loved cats, and has a soft spot in her heart for cheetahs.  While doing some research online this past summer, Kara and her mom found the CCF website.  It inspired her to do what she could to help save this beautiful animal.  She came up with a couple of ideas that would hopefully raise a lot of money for her favorite big cat.  First, she decided to make a display at the local grocery store to collect donations.  She made posters, handed out fliers, and answered questions about the cheetah.   

Kara is a conditional black belt in karate, so her second idea was to participate in a kick-a-thon at her karate studio to raise even more money for CCF.  She collected pledges from her family, friends and neighbors and ended up surpassing her  goal of kicking  800 kicks in 10 minutes.  Thinking of all the beautiful cheetahs she would be saving gave her the energy to keep kicking and not give up!   

Kara is proud to have raised over $570.00 for CCF and considers this one of her biggest accomplishments so far!

July 2009: Juliet in California sets up a CCF booth at the Fairfax Festival's EcoFest.

Juliet's booth at the Fairfax festival was a big success. Her enthusiasm and knowledge really made her the darling of our little corner of the EcoFest. She raised over $150 in donations in just one day. She gave out membership brochures, and had good one-on-one conversations with at least 100 festival goers.

She also handed out cheetah activity books, and coloring books to kids, and her dad was supporting by painting kids faces as cheetahs. The kids loved it, and the parents usually gave some money.

Juliet is interested in doing it again next year, and would probably be an asset at other similar, local, kinds of fund-raisers.

July 2009: Olivia does it again and raises $1,000 to save the cheetah!

For the fourth year in a row , Olivia has celebrated her birthday by raising money for CCF.This year Olivia, along with her parents, tried a different approach for fundraising. They decided to offer a concert which would entertain as well as educate. Olivia played the violin while her mother played the harp and her father sang. Each musical selection was coupled with information about cheetah conservation. Approximately 30 minutes long, the presentation was held in the community room of the Ocee Branch of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library and concluded with birthday cake.Thanks to the generosity of family, friends and the general public, Olivia was able to raise $1,000.00.

April 2009: Annika in action to spread the word and help the cheetah.

Annika gave a talk to the Lower School of North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL. Everyone has to do a presentation and she chose cheetahs and CCF. She spoke about why the cheetah is going extinct and what Laurie Marker is doing to prevent it and what we all can do. She talked about the Run for the Cheetah in Chicago that she has run in for the last two years and about sponsoring a cheetah. She saved her money and helped sponsor a cheetah named Sandy. She finished her speech by saying "I hope I have inspired you to help save the cheetah."

 

 

April 2009: Cheetah action in Thailand - a garage sales raises $100!

 

My name is Rhianna I am 7 years old and I go to the New International School of Thailand  in Bangkok. I wanted to help cheetahs because they are my favourite animal. I want to help save cheetahs because they are the fastest  animal on earth and because they feel special to me. I decided to raise some money by doing a garage sale  at my school . I collected lots of things to sell. I made US$100  I hope it helps CCF.  I wanted to help because I heard that there was only a small number of cheetahs left. At first I got excited about cheetahs but soon I wanted to raise money at once. Love from Rhianna

April 2009: Chad in NJ is on a mission to save the Cheetah!

Chad is an energetic, inquisitive and passionate 5 year old pre schooler who attends the Goddard School in NJ. "Endangered species" was the weekly theme at the school and Chad chose the Cheetah. He learned that cheetahs live in Namibia, Africa and is making plans to visit them one day. He was fascinated at how fast the cheetah could run and admired their strength in hunting their prey. Chad could not fathom why the cheetahs were becoming extinct. He became very emotional and felt he had to do something.

When Chad got home from school, he asked his mom what he could do to help save the cheetahs. That evening, Chad and his mom went on the internet and found the CCF web site, which gave him the opportunity to learn so much more about the cheetahs.  Excited, Chad began his philanthropic quest to encourage others to assist him in saving the cheetahs. He selected pictures, chose colors, wrote captions and presented his newly acquired information to his classmates. Chad didn't stop there. He named his quest "Save Chad's Cheetahs" and with the help of his mom, Chad emailed family and friends equesting their help for his cause.  The response was overwhelmingly positive. Donations were sent to CCF on Chad's behalf.

March 2009: A dog party to save cheetahs in South Burlington, VT!

On May 3rd of 2008, when I turned 8, I had a dog birthday party to raise money for the Kangal Anatolian puppies.  Whoever came gave money to the CCF, I raised $136.00.  At my birthday party we had a cheetah cake and I explained to my friends how Kangal Anatolians chase the cheetahs away from farm animals so the farmers won't kill the cheetahs (photo). Then we all picked a stuffed dog to adopt.  We signed adoption papers and gave the dog a name.  Then we went to my brother Matt and they got a collar for their dog and he gave the dogs shots and talked about how to take care of them.  After everybody got their dogs we went outside and took this picture. Then we got our faces painted and went through a dog obstacle course and a game where we threw doggy bones into dog dishes. I chose to raise money for the Kangal Anatolian puppies because the CCF needed more money for the Anatolian puppies.  Cheetahs are my favorite animal!  Damien H.

December 2008: Kindergartners Run for the Cheetahs in Sacramento, CA

Our Kindergarten class at Sequoia Elementary School had a Cheetah Day which was inspired by CCF's work in Namibia.   Each child became a cheetah for the day and was given a name tag with the name of one of the resident cheetahs at CCF Namibia.  Then they were able to view cheetah photos from CCF and find the cheetah with the same name.  They loved this!  My name tag said Laurie - as I was taking care of all my little "cheetahs" that day.  Each child had their face painted like a cheetah and we made cheetah cookies, using the ideas in the ZooBooks Cheetah edition.  While they waited for their face to be painted or their cookie to bake, they worked in a workbook with a cheetah coloring page, a cheetah food search, and a rebus information page that they could take home and read with their parents.  Students made a painting of a cheetah visiting a water hole at night, read cheetah books, listened to cheetah poems, and wrote in our journals about what we learned.   We ended our day with a Run for the Cheetah and the children and families were excited to donated their spare change to CCF to help save the cheetahs.

December 2008: Reading for Cheetahs raises over $1,000!

Hi, my name is Isabelle.  I am seven years old and in first grade.  I have loved cheetahs for three years.  I read a book about cheetahs in danger in kindergarten.  I wanted to help save them so I asked my mom how I could help them.  My Auntie told my mom about the CCF website and we checked it out.  We looked and looked and ya know what happened?  We found it!  We found a way to help the cheetahs!  I did a Chapters for Cheetahs read-a-thon because I love to read.  I read lots of books about cheetahs.  I learned that they had problems and that CCF was trying to fix those problems.  I talked to neighbors and family and told them all about cheetahs.  I answered their questions.  Always know a lot of information before you talk to people and you’ll be able to convince them to help.  They pledged money to help the cheetahs.  I also made a video about cheetahs for family and friends who live far away.  I told them neat things about cheetahs, their problems, and how CCF was trying to help.  Then they emailed me or called to pledge!  I read every night and wrote down how many books I read.  It was really fun.  I like helping the cheetahs.  I added up how many books I read and collected the pledges.  Then I sent in the money to CCF. I raised $1000 the first year and $1025 the second year.  I sent out cards to thank my sponsors.  I colored a picture, and wrote a thank you message.  Then I gave them to my mom to make into cards.  When she was done I gave them the cards. 

          Last October, I met Dr. Laurie Marker.  I even saw a real cheetah!  I loved that too.  It was so fun.  Well, that’s my story, hope you loved it!  

SUMMER 2008: Darius, 5, hiked for cheetahs and raised almost $2,000!

 

 

Hi, my name is Stephanie, I'm 14 years old and I love cheetahs. All my friends call me Tanzi (named after my favorite cheetah) or cheetah girl! I have loved cheetahs for a long time and want to help save them! I hope one day I will be able to come work with CCF and help save cheetahs from extinction. I couldn't imagine a world without them. For my S.O.S.E project, I had to do a report on an inspirational person that has changed the world. I chose Dr. Laurie Marker because she is so amazing. She has helped the cheetahs fight for survival to an amazing level! My project went really well, and I have attached a picture of it. Thank you for all your help and consideration. Stephanie 

Great job, Stephanie! And to see Stephanie's drawings, go to our Coloring Book

 

JUNE 2008: Sammy in Canada tells us how she encouraged people to help the cheetah.

I am in grade 7 at George Street Middle School, and we had to do projects on "Empowerment." I was serching for ideas, when I found your site. I decided to do my project on Save the Cheetahs! For my project, I was raising money to "adopt a cheetah" cub. So, I needed to come up with a way to get money from people. After researching why they were endangered, I made a dioramma and divided it into 4ths. 1/4 was for the cheetahs, and the rest went to farmlands. This showed that the cheetahs don't have enough land because of farmers. Next, I got a GI Joe, and dressed him up as a hunter, to show that they are endangered in other ways to. I added toy cheetahs, trees, grass, a barn... As the project went on, I got more and more into the idea of saving endangered animals. Then, I finally had to present my project, and so I went on to explain how cheetahs are endangered, and how we can help save them. (I think it was quite clever !) My dioramma demonstrated that if people would just donate, then they could survive. How it show this was... I asked people to donate money to the fund. For $1, they could add some cheetah land to the farmland, and for $2 they could remove a fence. Then, I would donate all of the money I received to adopt a cheetah. Some people even gave me $5 bills! On the first day, I already had $10! My goal was $50... And I reached my goal in less than a week!!! Sammy.
Great job, Sammy! Very creative.

MARCH 2008: Ashley (Arizona) is a Cheetah Gem!

Back in 2006, a 9 year-old girl learned about chefetahs and got creative. She made jewelry to sell and raise funds, and participated in the Run for the Cheetah race in Phoenix, where she handed her donation to our Executive Director, Dr. Laurie Marker (photo on left, Ashley with dad and Laurie; on the right, some of her handmade jewelry. And here is Ashley's story:

One day when I was in third grade, I was in the school library and saw a non-fiction book called "Endangered Species: The Cheetah." I was so sad when I finished reading the book. I wanted to find a way to save the cheeetah. So I searched the Internet on cheetah websites and came across this website. I saw that you were having a cheetah race. So I decided to make jewelry and sell it at the neighbor's monthly yard sale. Then, I went to the race and ran in it. Then I gave the money to the CCF. That's how I grew fond of cheetahs. I think they are amazing, original, sweet, and so much more. It's so sad that more and more animals are becoming endangered. I wish I could help them all and make sure they are far away from being exsitnct. So I will always remember to try and help a cheetah. Cheetahs rule!!!

NOVEMBER 2007: From CCF's Chicago Chapter: Over $1000 raised by young girl in Chicago!

Madeline, a young girl whose mother has just joined our chapter, did a two day workshop at a Holiday Fair at St. Chrysostom's to let people know about CCF and the plight of the cheetah. She raised over 1000. dollars! CCF's Chicago Chapter Head, Jayne Bazos is thrilled, since that Chapter is now focusing on Education Outreach. Click here to read Madeline's letter and see more photos.

NOVEMBER 2007: Year 7 students in Australia create web sites on Endangered Species!

Year 7 students at Pembroke Secondary College in Melbourne Australia asked themselves what endangered species is the most important to save and why, and in their search for an answer, they found out many interesting facts about endangered species and created great web sites with lots of information and pictures. Their teacher Suzanne sent us the links to the culmination of this project for the last two years: Click here and here.

OCTOBER 2007: Erik and Nich in Italy raise almost $600 for the cheetah!

"This is Erik and Nich - we both attend the European School in northern Italy, and together we've written an 11-page project on the cheetah. We used the work to raise awareness among our school friends and relatives and to collect money for CCF. It was a great success. We have now got about 350 Euros which we shall be sending to you soon. We hope that by sending this money, we will help save the wild cheetah from extinction. We love cheetahs and are willing to do all we can to save them! We are proud of the money we raised." Erik & Nich

Nich is 12 and is half Italian and half English. He was inspired by the film Duma and because cheetahs are on the verge on extinction. The cheetah is by far his favourite animal. Erik is 13 and is half English and half German. He has been in Italy for nearly 2 years now. He raised money for the cheetah because he finds it such a wonderful animal. When he heard cheetahs were going extinct, he wanted to know more and help prevent this from happening. He was probably mostly inspired by Nich, who showed him how beautiful they were. Now they are one of Erik's favourite animals.

OCTOBER 2007: Charlotte and Daniel in France help their grandmother celebrate her 70th birthday "Cheetah Style".

When grandmother Julia decided to celebrate her 70th birthday by asking the 80 guests to her party to make a donation to CCF, many people asked, "Why cheetahs?" So Charlotte and Daniel went to work. They used materials and photos from our web site to make a donations box and a small panel explaining why the cheetah was chosen for this celebration. They love cheetahs, and wanted people to understand that the cheetah is highly endangered. Their efforts paid up, as they raised about 360 Euros, in addition to other people donating online. Happy birthday, Julie, and thanks to Charlotte and Daniel for their hard work!

OCTOBER 2007: Gabriel (6) is determined to save cheetahs!

Gabriel attends Christian Home and Bible school in Mount Dora, Florida. Gabriel had a project in his 1st. grade class to research an animal, and hands down he fell in love with the Cheetahs. He used the CCF website to get great information that was invaluable. He was amazed by their speed and their beautiful coat. However, Gabriel was saddened to find out that they could be extinct. Once he found out what the word extinct was, he said “Mom we have to save the Cheetahs”. And so he went to work! He collected money in his plastic jar, organized bake sales, talked to his teacher about doing a presentation at school, and got his sisters and friends to cooperate. Gabriel's goal is to raise $200. With that determination, we know he will! To read his mom's letter to CCF, click here.

OCTOBER 2007: A fine 9 year-old girl raises $1,000 to save the cheetah!

Last year, Olivia sponsored Hershey, one of CCF's non-releasable cheetahs, by raising funds from friends and family on her birthday. Her passion for cheetahs has only become stronger, and this year she celebrated her 9th birthday with a magnificent Cheetah birthday party that included education, games, cheetah goodies, and resulted in a total of $500 in donations, which she sent in to Orvis's Matching Program to have it DOUBLED! Read all about Olivia's party here. Bravo Olivia!!! And bravo to her parents, who have offered assistance to anyone who wishes to organize a Cheetah Party to support CCF. To contact Olivia's parents, please write to us.

JULY 2007: Sophia from San Jose, CA: A Little Girl with a Big Heart.

Sophia and her troop teaching about the cheetah.Sophia C is a 6 year-old at the Sherman Oaks Charter School. She is also a brownie, and with her troop went to see a presentation to increase awareness of the impact of human behavior on the habitat and survival of wild cats. Sophia was fascinated with the presentation, but was also troubled to know that in 12 years some of these species will be extinct. So she told her mom that since her favorite cat was the cheetah, she had decided to help them. She worked on a presentation to collect money at school. She talked to the school principal and explained that she wanted to talk to the students and share with them some of the things she learned and to ask them to help her to collect some money to send to CCF. At her girl scout meeting, she and her friends made posters, and then talked to all the students at her school about the Cheetah (see picture, Sophia is the second from right to left). Sophia collected almost $250! She says she is going to continue collecting money to save the cheetahs, because this is not a one day thing, it's something that she'll do forever. She is already planning on selling lemonade... Sophia's mom says: "As a parent, I am so proud of her, she is giving me a life lesson, she is teaching me that you can make a difference, and all I want is to support her as much as I can." We could not agree more with her. Keep it up, Sophia!

JUNE 2007: Recycling to Save Cheetahs - A great idea!!!

Dear Cheetah Conservation Fund:

This is Mrs. Height's 5th grade class at Castille School in Mission Viejo, CA. We are kown as the "Cheetahs" because our teacher went to Namibia, Africa, in the summer of 2006. She had a great time there, and showed us lots of very interesting pictures. We then decided to start raising money for the cheetahs because we care about saving them for the next generations. As a class, we have spent about six months collecting mainly plastic water bottles for recycling, and raised $125.00 to Adopt a Wild Cheetah. Also we know that future classes will want to do the same. After this, we are a lot closer as a class. So thank you for letting us help you. From the kids in Mrs. Height's 5th grade class - Mission Viejo, CA

JUNE 2007: CheetahKids.com making a difference in Arizona! A Message from CCF Arizona's Chapter Head.

Click here  to read an exciting press release about Cameron Carver of Cheetah Kids and his efforts to support CCF through fund raising at the Run for the Cheetah in Phoenix, his birthday and at his school. In total, they have raised more than $1,600 for CCF in the past few months. Cameron and his family have been very inspirational to all of us in Phoenix. Also, Cameron and his family are hoping to hold a Run for the Cheetah in Tucson this fall after the Runs in Portland and Chicago. David and I will be working with them to get organized. Thanks to Cameron and his family, John, Jody and little sister Kristen for their great support of the Cheetah Conservation Fund!! Claudia , CCF Arizona

MAY 2007: Spring Creek Elementary School's Change for Cheetahs Raises Lots of Change to Save Cheetahs!

The cheetah is the school mascot for Spring Creek Elementary School in Santa Rosa, California. As a result of having a real cheetah visit the school, Mrs. Reed's kindergarten class decided to launch a fundraising campaign called "Change for Cheetahs!" During the course of three weeks, the children at this K-6 school learned lots of cheetah facts and visited the cheetah website. The kindergartners visited the computer lab with their 6th grade buddies, so they could look at the website, too. At the end of fundraising job, the school had raised $802! The whole school voted to adopt a group of 6 cheetahs, 2 females with cubs and rescue a trapped cheetah. Way to go, Cheetahs! According to Ms. Reed, the kids got so excited that are planning to make this an annual event.

APRIL 2007: Carolina-s Purr-fect Class Project

Here is the story of a 5 year-old girl in Oregon determined to make a difference to save the cheetahs. This is her second cheetah project! Carolina likes the cheetahs because they're fast, and "they make chirps, instead of growls." Read about it by clicking here.

APRIL 2007: An 11 year-old from New Mexico in fine shape to help cheetahs.

Read about Robynn, a cheetah lover who has raced for cheetahs at the Run for the Cheetah event in Arizona, and has spent most of her life helping this beautiful cat. Click here for her story.

MARCH 2007: Bookmarks for Cheetahs!

Stephanie, 9, from Wisconsin, visited the Milwaukee zoo where she found CCF's web site address. She did a fundraiser with the teachers in the fall 2006 and raised $40; she is planning another one this spring. Her mom talked with the principal of the school and agreed to do several fundraisers throughout the year and send the proceeds to CCF. Stephanie and her mom want to make this educational as well as to raise money for this cause Stephanie feels deeply about. After much research on CCF's website, they came up with the idea of selling cheetah bookmarks that tell about the problems cheetahs face. Great idea! We wish you lots of luck.

Amanda read 14 books over the summer to help endangered species.

FEBRUARY 2007: A little girl makes a HUGE difference.

Dear CCF: Last spring, when Amanda (age 5) read the book by Eric Carle Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?, she was reading well enough to read the introduction to parents in which it said, "..... if something isn't done to help these animals, they will disappear forever!!". She was moved to tears and wanted to do something to help save endangered animals. That night I explained that various organizations were working really hard to help endangered animals and one of the ways she could help was to give money. She immediately went to her piggy bank and emptied it and donated $20. I challenged her to come up with a way to raise additional money, and she came up with the idea of a Read-A-Thon where friends and family would pledge money for every book that she read over the summer. She found sponsors, and over the summer read 14 books, raising $250 that donated to three non-profit organizations that are doing important work to save endangered animals - one of them being CCF. The fund raising effort was a great success. It helped teach her that she can make a difference while motivating her to read. She wants to do it again this summer. Hugs to the Cheetahs from Amanda.

Amanda's mom, Anne.

Amanda, you have done something truly admirable. The cheetahs are lucky to have friends like you.

DECEMBER 2006: The students of St. John Kanty School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are making a difference!

Orvis recently received a $200 contribution from the students of St. John Kanty School. The school embarked on a fundraiser for CCF by gathering cans to redeem for cash. Click here to read the letter from one of the students and view photos. (Link will open the orvis.com web page separately.)

NOVEMBER 2006: Dana, a Cheetah Artist.

One of DanaHey, my name is Dana. I am 15 years old and I am a huge fan of your organization. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved cats. My dream is to work with all kinds of cats and help them. I wish to study to be a zookeeper. My favorite cat is the cheetah and I learn more about it everyday. I really admire what you do and wish that one day I could do the same. I watch you on Animal Planet, and I think you are amazing. My dream is to come to Africa and visit the CCF. That would be an amazing experience. I wish to work there or volunteer.

I wish to study art too, so I am drawing pictures of cheetahs and other wild animals. I drew these pictures with art pencils and then just shaded them in. It took me about an hour to complete each one. I drew the cheetah mother with her cub because I thought it was the cutest thing I have ever seen! The picture of cheetahs grooming resembles the beauty of cheetahs. They communicate, love, clean, and groom each other just like we do. They eat, sleep, hunt, and drink just like we do. The only difference we have is appearance. They shoud be treated fairly and with respect.

Sincerely, Dana K.

OCTOBER 2006 - Celebrating Halloween 'Cheetah' style.

Here is my Halloween cheetah costume. My baby brother was a cheetah too. Cheetahs are my favorite animal and I am happy you are saving them. Your friend, Shaun - San Antonio, TX.

AUGUST 2006 - California boy chooses to save cheetahs over buying a videogame machine!

My name is Nathan. I am 11 years old and I live in California. I first became interested in Cheetahs in 4th grade. I thought they were really cute. Lately I've been watching Animal Planet and I've learned a lot about cheetahs. I like their style of hunting. Most animals pounce on their prey, but cheetahs trip their prey. They have brakes on their paws so they can stop instantly. I met a cheetah at the San Diego Wild Animal Park at a special event called Cheetah Run Safari. We were able to watch a cheetah chase a toy at full speed. We were separated by a fence only 3 feet away. The cheetah's name is Mujani. Cheetahs are endangered and I donated my savings to them so they won't become extinct.

Nathan, we are really impressed by and thankful for your decision to help the cheetah!

MAY 2006 - A true Cheetah birthday celebration in Minnesota!

Hello, My name is Katie and I'm 10 years old and I live in Minnesota. At my 10th birthday party, instead of a regular present, I asked my friends to bring a maximum $10 donation to help me adopt a cheetah. My mom made us cheetah shirts and a cheetah cake and my friends and I made a cooKatie and her Friendsl poster! My cat, Phoebe attacked the first cheetah cake while it was cooling so my mom had to make another one! Cheetahs are my favorite animals. I like them because their markings are very cool and different from other big cats. I'm really glad I can help a cheetah. Here's a picture of me and my friends holding the poster (I'm in the middle) and a picture of my cheetah cake! Katie

Katie, a big Happy Birthday to you, and our thanks!

MAY 2006 - Abby in Windsor, Con