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“AAZK's Bowling for Rhinos-Sponsored by Blue Rhino” fund raiser began on a small scale and is now an AAZK-sponsored North American event raising over $300,000 annually. In 1990, we began by supporting the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (formerly Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary) in Kenya. In 1994 we expanded our funding efforts to include Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia and in 1996 to include Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas National Parks in Sumatra, Indonesia. The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) oversees the use of funding in the Indonesian parks in order to best protect endangered species.
AAZK Chapters and zookeepers at some zoos which have no official chapter, hold bowl-a-thons (or similar events), enlisting sponsors for bowlers and outright cash donations. One hundred percent of the money generated from this conservation fund raiser goes to protect rhinos.
Since its inception, Bowling for Rhinos has raised over $3 million for rhino conservation efforts.
The Bowling for Rhinos (BFR) event has gained momentum every year and continues to grow in participation and financial success. Over the past few years, AAZK, Inc. has been able to provide Lewa Wildlife Conservancy with a single engine spotter airplane, a large transport truck for the relocation of animals, solar-powered electrical fencing for the preserve, etc. BFR now supplies part of Lewa's $850,000 annual operating budget. BFR provides much needed boats, uniforms and funding for training and operation of poaching guards (Rhino Patrol Units) in Indonesia.
While the flagship species for this fund raiser is the rhino, by providing financial assistance for the support of protected rhino sanctuaries, the project also protects many other species of animals as well as habitats. More information about Bowling for Rhinos may be found on the Bowling for Rhino's Website: http://www.aazkbfr.org.
There is a new Yahoo groups email for Bowling For Rhino Coordinators. If you would like to be part of this email group, please email Barbie Wilson at rhinobarbie@hotmail.com. This will let you communicate with each other on questions about t-shirts, bowling alley prices, how to get more support from your zoo, etc. with other BFR coordinators.
Bowling For Rhinos Announcement for 2008
The distribution of “AAZK's Bowling For Rhinos-sponsored by Blue Rhino” funds will follow these guidelines in 2008:
Blue Rhino Gas donation ($20,000/year - Split 50/50 between LWC and IRF):LWC receives the first $150,000 raised by BFR/year, plus $10K from Blue Rhino, guaranteed if BFR funds reach $150,000. All BFR funds over $150,000 will now go directly to The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) for use in the Indonesian Rhino Parks of Ujung Kulon, Way Kambas, and Bukit Barisan Selatan. IRF gets the $10,000 from Blue Rhino added to their share. The AAZK Board of Directors will be discussing the distribution of BFR funds during their Board meetings. They hope to come up with a distribution program of funds that will better suite all parties as BFR continues to grow.
2007 Bowling For Rhinos events raised over $316,000. This was the best year on record as the increasing trend continues. Congratulations for a fabulous year! Bowling For Rhinos will soon break the $3 million mark and we continue to reach for attaining our goal of $500,000/year! Together AAZK can do it. We have and we will continue to make a difference in the conservation world. Please send me your organization's contact person/contact info ASAP along with the date of your event. Reminder, there is a $25 registration fee for BFR events which covers administrative costs so that 100% of all donation can go directly to rhino conservation. Please see http://aazkbfr.org or contact Patty Pearthree: ppear3@pear3.org. We hope to merge the BFR website onto the AAZK this year.
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