June 18th Benefit for the Animals

Join us June 18 at 5:30 PM at Temple Ner Shalom (85 La Plaza Court) in Cotati (an hour north of sf and oakland on 101 North) for the second annual benefit for Esperanza de Libertad.

We will have yummy vegan food for sale, a slide show presentation by United States Project Coordinator, a photo display, and a silent auction. Several beautiful tropical animal paintings by Bolivian Project Coordinator Franci Pairo will be for sale. Blackbird Stitches will play talismanic dirt folk, and Grassroots Movement Political Dance Troupe will perform. $10-$20 suggested donation.

Last year's benefit was a lot of fun for everyone and a great success-and all the money raised went towards buying the land. This year, we hope to raise money to build volunteer housing, a quarantine area, and an educational center. Once the first building is complete, we can start accepting animals. We are looking for volunteers to help at the event and for donations to the silent auction.

You can also contact me to host a slideshow presentation at your home, work, or organization. You can sponsor an acre of land by donating $40, and you'll receive a certificate of recognition. To learn more about Esperanza de Libertad, go to http://www.esperanzadelibertad.org.

All the money from last years benefit went towards buying the land, and we now have 115 acres of rainforest land in northern Bolivia, 7 1/2 miles from the town of Ixiamas. About 20 acres are already cut and the rest is jungle. We would like to build and work on the cut land and leave the rest as untouched as possible. This land is beautiful and full of wildlife. On our visits to the land we saw a
group of 15 lion monkeys, tyras (small "honeybears"), anteaters, macaws, toucans and many different species of birds. Many of the
animals in this area are in danger of extinction. We hope to continue raising money to buy and protect more of the surrounding land. I expect to go back to Bolivia in July and begin building. We plan both rehabilitation and release project, to rescue Bolivian animals that have not lived long in captivity and work with them until they can be released back into their jungle home, and a sanctuary project, to provide a place to live in their natural
habitat for captive animals who cannot be released back into the wild