My First Donation.

While sitting in this apartment looking at the lightning outside I'm in a state of wonder to the whole world. Seattle has been getting wonderful weather compared to the other states and It's surprising all of the locals.

Even though life has been peachy all around. I have been wrestling with the conundrum of who I'd make my first donation to. I spent almost a week researching places and looking at non profits and what they support. In the long run I had decided that I wanted to help animals.

Animals have been apart of my life for along time. I loved cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, and deeply feared horses. Still to this day I fear being behind them, or near them, or on them. But doesn't mean I don't respect, love or be willing to support them. But after mulling this over I narrowed the idea down even further to a recent event.

I went to the zoo for the first time in my life.

Age 24 and this was my first time at a zoo, a wonderful and life altering experience.

It narrowed down my field to one thing. Wolves.

I scoured through Razoo ( A wonderful online fundraising site.) In hopes of finding a Wolf Sanctuary. These were what I found.

Wolf Haven International - A local Washington based Wolf Sanctuary in Tenino, WA. A few hours south of Seattle, this group's mission plan is this.

- Providing sanctuary for captive-born wolves.
- Educating the value of all wildlife.
- Promoting wolf restoration.
- Protecting our remaining wild wolves and their habitat.

They have aided in the recovery of the Mexican Wolf population. Being only One of Three pre-release breeding facilities. This is a group that I'm very much behind. In my life I've come across Coyotes, Bears and even heard of a Cougar or two in my area up North. But I've learned from this group is that support is needed, Wolves should be respected, and they ARE necessary.

The ways you can help Wolf Haven:

- You can Become a member with memberships starting at 35$.
- Adopt a wolf at 25$ or more.
- Volunteer.
- Or you can Donate any amount you see fit.

With this company I donated 25$, which covers preventative medicines for a wolf. If you wish to match my donation or just make one, hit the donate button above.

The second group that I donated to:

The International Wolf Center an education based group, IWC's mission is to:

- Advance the survival of wolf populations by; teaching about wolves.
- Their relationship to the wildlands.
- And the human role in their future.

This group's main focus is on education, with programs like Wolfology, Wolf speak and learning about the relationship between wolves and deer in "Oh deer." This group has wolves in the exhibit that are used as learning tools and ambassadors to us. With a large viewing area people are able to watch the wolves interact while learning about biology and adaptations.

If you wish to help International Wolf Center:

- Become a member These start at 15$ just for a magazine subscription.
- You can Volunteer (If you live in MN)
- Or you can Donate any amount that you see fit.

With the IWC I donated 15$, enough to provide 3 beaver carcasses for the wolves in retirement. Again if you wish to donate to the IWC feel free to hit the donate button above.

After much debate, much muddling, and much milling about I finally got around to supporting a local non profit. As well as another one several states over.

So far it has felt good to be donating. To give something back to the world and to see it slowly come to fruition. I hope to continue my pattern of donations, and will be taking this time to research another Non profit.

I hope this has been insightful as it has been for me.

Much <3 for the Wolves.

- Amanda.