Little Activists Achieve Big Goals
Five school friends who were so concerned with the plight of rhinos that they took it upon themselves to organise a carwash cafe fundraiser in aid of The Australian Rhino Project.
Five enthusiastic pupils in year one at St. Ives North Public School in Sydney’s Upper North Shore raised an amazing $500 for The Australian Rhino Project at a carwash cafe they put on after hearing about the poaching crisis.
According to Victoria Monahan, mother to schoolgirl Claudia, one of the girls asked her mother what it means when a species is endangered. She was so concerned with her newfound knowledge that she told her friends at school that she wanted to raise money for endangered animals, and the girls came up with the idea of a carwash café in the school playground.
Keen to support the girls’ enthusiasm to protect animals, a parent suggested the girls support the Australian Rhino Project. From there on the girls have shown enormous interest, understanding and compassion for rhinos.
Their learning has come mainly from their parents via the Australian Rhino Project website, each other and several library books. They have illustrated posters and spoken to many people about the “poachers who kill rhinos to sell their horn for lots of money”, and have also enjoyed learning all about what rhinos eat, how big they are, and how they mark their territory with their poo!
Unfortunately it poured with rain on the day of the carwash café, so the girls were unable to wash cars, but had plenty of cupcakes to sell from out of the garage! In their determination to raise money, they walked door to door in pouring rain laden with cupcakes and umbrellas. Fortunately, the neighbours were not only extremely generous in their donations, but very interested to hear about the rhinos. The girls did a lot of talking about rhinos that day!
A big thank you from The Australian Rhino Project goes to Claudia, Aria, Maddy, Seana and Emilia.
“You aren’t going to save the world on your own. But you might inspire a generation of kids to save it for all of us. You would be amazed at what inspired children can do.” — Jade Goodall
If you are interested in fundraising for The Australian Rhino Project, please click this link for everything you need to host a successful event:
www.theaustralianrhinoproject.org/index.php/get-involved/host-an-event
