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About Us Each of us wrote about what the Wildthings group means to us as well. To see them, click here. The Wildthings
The Wildthings
are a group of now high school girls, who have organized themselves for the
purpose of benefiting wildlife, Through a series of creative endeavors over the past three years, this group of girls has raised all the funds necessary to travel to a few homegrown wildlife rescue facilities, where they worked very hard at tasks such as cleaning cages, feeding animals, and habitat restoration. In carrying out their ventures, they have learned to grocery shop, cook, clean, do laundry, budget their hard earned money, and a bit about personal relationships. The first year, the
Wildthings took themselves to the Candy Kitchen Wolf Sanctuary in Ramah, New
Mexico for a full week of work in the summer sun, sleeping in tents near the
wolf enclosures where they were serenaded by their hauntingly beautiful howling
at night. Candy Kitchen provides housing for
The following summer, the
girls spent a week helping out injured marine wildlife, at the Animal
Rehabilitation Keep (The ARK), a facility associated with the University of
Texas’ Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas. They cared for sea
turtles, most whose injuries were related to boat propellers and fishing line.
The girls scrubbed tanks, cleaned out everything from storage closets to the
biological filtration system, assisted in weighing and measuring the turtles,
giving IV fluids, and with the turtles’
food preparation and feeding. They spent $400 of their hard
earned money to learn about the Texas coastal habitat on UT’s Marine Science
educational boat,
“The Katy”, in preparation for their work with
the marine life here, but when the biologist trawled for sea
creatures to teach with, the
The next June they
traveled two days each way by rented van to work at
Mission: Wolf, a sanctuary
and educational facility, similar to Candy Kitchen. They sanded and stained over
two hundred Aspen siding boards for the
new volunteer center, (designed to look like a wolf’s head), For the last two years, their trip was spent mostly pulling invasive weeds in Big Sur, an activity done with quite a bit of flair. Poison Oak is now a deep seated terror. They were lucky enough to work on a Big Sur Land Trust property, while staying at a ranch house overlooking Highway 1. After all the roughing it they had done - camping out at the sanctuaries where they were working, experiencing exploding stoves, dust and snow storms, and this felt like the lap of luxury to the girls. They also worked up and down the coast counting Marine Wildlife for the Long Marine Labs, helping tag and release local bird species, re-establishing a burn area, and re-potting hundreds of native plant seedlings.
The Wildthings are (Clockwise) Micaela Lacy, Christina Hooks, Katherine Kloc, Alex North, Mindy Martin, Katie Pipkin, Savannah Ritter, Leslie Reynolds, and (not pictured) Shannon Soule Their mission in the beginning was to spend some time identifying what exactly it was that they felt passionate about, and then set about experimenting with ways to fund it. There would be no pre-planned course of action like cookie sales or reward systems. They decided their passion was helping wildlife, and their first financial foray would be babysitting. They took an on-line course, advertised their services, and babysat in pairs. Since then, their fundraisers have ranged from baking and selling items such as Valentine dog biscuits, magnets, handmade birdseed ornaments, and native wildflower seeds. Their most famous (and now annual) fundraiser is a Haunted Trail event during Halloween. The girls write a spooky script, design and build sets, and act out the story as visitors are led by a guide along the winding trail. They attract actor volunteers from both a professional crowd and their fellow classmates. Recently they hosted a screening of “Nobelity”, a film documenting visions of the future off Nobel Laureates, with talks by the filmmaker and desserts cooked and served by the Wildthings. Each event was an experiment where they did the work from the ground up. To this date the Wildthings have earned over $8,000 through their ventures. One parent commented, “What I have found so very heartwarming is how well their efforts are received.” When people hear what the Wildthings are trying to accomplish, orders for Valentine cookies and dog biscuits come in from CEO’s and women’s clubs, and hotel rooms on their working trip route get donated. So many items were brought in for one of their garage sales that they ran out of storage room, until a neighborhood facility donated space. At times, after simply meeting the girls, individuals give cash donations to help make their upcoming trip successful. Their most public compliment came last year when the Texas State legislature, who honored them with a resolution stating, “The members of the Wildthings are a tremendous source of pride to their families, school, and community, and they set an inspiring example to people of all ages what hard work, perseverance and a generous spirit can accomplish”. Parents have received emails about their daughters such as this one: “How proud you must be of your daughter. For her to realize that even at her young age she is able to make a difference in something that means a lot to her. Please pass along to her, what a wonderful example she is of a determined young lady.” Janet Gilmore of Austin said, “Tell them that what they are doing is awesome.” In reference to the Recognition of Excellence by the State of Texas, Eanes School District Superintendent Nola Wellman commented, “What a great honor and deserved recognition of these students! My congratulations to them all”. In addition to their working trips, the Wildthings have: Donated their hard-earned money to:
Donated time to:
As Wildthings, they are getting the opportunity to learn responsible stewardship for our earth and all its inhabitants. They are discovering how to turn those concerns into action by learning life skills such as bookkeeping, organizing, making money, handling interpersonal relationships, and receiving education about the environment. Most importantly, through the time they have spent with these wild plants and animals, they now deeply understand that all living beings are connected,
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We came, we saw, we helped. |
wolves
that are not releasable to the wild, many with heartbreaking
girls
spent most of the time frantically releasing them back into the sea. 
landscaped walkways, buried a huge 
