12/3 Four Calling Birds,Three Nurse Sharks, Two Adopted Turtles
Thank you friends for your kind and healing wishes. I am taking life gently and mostly dining on muscle relaxers and codeine.
I wanted to share a cool gifting idea for the holidays or any day. I shared earlier about our visit to the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart, Florida. Like many other sanctuaries of its kind, they have animal adoption programs. Because there are so many programs like this around the country, I thought it would be nice to give a referral of sorts for one you may have never been to or heard of. I saw the success of what they were practicing and I met the animals you have the opportunity to adopt. They are doing impactful work in education while creating safe space for injured and unreleasable marine life to live out the rest of their lives in caring and safe waters. I was also so smitten with this sanctuary because it was so small. Except for the boardwalk passage through the mangrove jungle, the grounds and buildings are very small. It felt like the size of an elementary playground populated with marine life instead of school children. It was run by a handful of delightful volunteers introducing you to the animals they cherish and care for. It was more like being at a friends house than an educational center.
Photo By: S. Duquet
I am absolutely enamored with turtles. While at the Center we met a turtle name Lily. Lily’s shell had been badly damaged by a boat propeller leaving her with a severe buoyancy problem. Her little turtle bum floats at the top of the water pushing her head down under the surface. While her injuries left her unable to fend for herself in the wild, she was fully capable of living out the rest of her life safe and cared for at the Center.
Photo By: S. Duquet
Adoption packages begin at just $25.00 and include the following:
- 5″ x 7″ color photograph of your chosen animal
- Personalized Certificate of Adoption
- “Fun Facts,” an educational fact sheet about your selected animal
- Subscription to the Florida Oceanographic’s monthly e-newsletters
- Subscription to Florida Oceanographic’s semi-annual newsletter, “Currents”
- And more
Helping to fund loving space for turtles, sharks and stingray sounds like a unique and enlightened gift to me. Move over cookie of the month….animal adoption is the new way to give. Do you have any compassionately cool gift ideas? Please share.
Keep your comments coming. I will announce the remaining three winners for the Seven Gifts of Gratitude Giveaway on Monday.
Have a delicious weekend.
Tags: Adopt a Sea Turtle, compassionate holiday gift ideas, compassionate products, Florida Oceanographic Society, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan holiday gifts, vegan wannabe
December 3rd, 2011 at 6:26 am
I love the animal adoption idea. A few of the bigger organizations start them out at $50 so it’s nice to see more affordable alternatives.
My favorite sanctuary, The Elephant Sanctuary, offers adoptions and also Feed an Elephant for a Day and Adopt an Acre gifts, and has a great gift shop. I love giving t-shirts as gifts!
I’ve also made gift baskets with treats from the local independent vegan bakery…delicious muffins and cookies and scones with a box of spicy tea. I’ve never had any giftee be disappointed, even if they weren’t vegan. And you are supporting a neighborhood vegan business. Yay!
December 3rd, 2011 at 9:06 pm
I love it too and have often found adoption cost prohibitive as a gift. I thought it was a fantastic way to give people options by providing a $25 starting point. That is almost an impulse buy!
Whenever I give a gift I ask myself if I would be thrilled to receive it. A basket full of vegan baked goods would make it to the list of best gifts ever. I love food gifts because they are soulful, edible and thoughtful.