3.3 Million GreaterGood Facebook Fans Build a Safe Place for Elephants

Seattle, WA, October 11, 2013 --(PR.com)-- When the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary needed to improve their park to take in bull elephants, they reached out to GreaterGood.org for assistance. The nonprofit created a Gift That Gives More so the millions of Facebook fans of The Animal Rescue Site and The Rainforest Site could donate online to build a sanctuary for bull elephants. The Gift was first posted in mid-August and the project met its fundraising goal of $45,000 in less than a month.

One of those fans who helped boost awareness was actress Ashley Bell, who tweeted about the project to her following.

“It's amazing to see how quickly people from around the world responded to GreaterGood.org's efforts through The Rainforest Site and The Animal Rescue Site to help build the bull enclosure at Cambodian Wildlife Sanctuary,” said Bell, who is currently directing and producing the documentary, Love & Bananas, about the plight of elephants in the region. “I'm thrilled that GreaterGood.org is helping provide a home for rescued elephants, which will ultimately help save the species in that region.”

Bell plans to return to Cambodia in 2014 to document the rescue of elephants as part of the Love & Bananas project. She also is working with GreaterGood.org to help spread awareness of the plight of the Asian elephant.

Initial payment already has been made to the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary. Workers began construction on the “bull elephant fencing” at the end of September. Members of GreaterGood.org will visit the site in early November as part of a Southeast Asia tour to visit several charities helped by the organization. This visit will be shown at GreaterGood’s YouTube channel so fans can see the results of their donations.

GreaterGood.org’s ability to rapidly mobilize a large social media following has resulted in quick turnaround to support charities in many areas, especially in times of natural disaster, said Elizabeth Baker, executive director of GreaterGood.org. “Through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other resources, we can call for rapid action and also quickly show people how their donations helped.”

Throughout Asia, elephants in captivity live in miserable conditions. While many nonprofits work in Thailand and Cambodia to free these creatures, there are very few safe places to move bull elephants. Because of their size and potential for harmful interaction with humans, bull elephants need a place where they can roam and easily be kept out of crops or cultivated lands.

The Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary was willing to take in bull elephants, but they needed to surround their park with proper fencing to keep them out of nearby villages and fields. The project originally was beyond their fiscal resources but now will provide much needed local employment as well as a safer place for elephants.

More About GreaterGood

Since 1999, the GreaterGood family of cause related websites have raised almost $30 million for charity. This network of charitable websites began with the Internet’s first “Click To Give” website in 1999: The Hunger Site (www.thehungersite.com).

Grants from GreaterGood.org are focused on eight major cause areas: hunger and poverty relief, breast cancer research and programs helping women receive free mammograms, animal rescue, aid for families coping with autism, help for homeless veterans, children’s health programs, literacy, and wildlife habitat preservation.