We all just concentrated on raising awareness of global warming during Earth Hour, and one of the topics that came up that night was the plight of the polar bear. THIS did not make our daughter happy.

Our daughter’s beloved polar bear may actually become extinct during her lifetime.  (If you want your heart crushed, take a moment to watch this.)  And there are 10 others that top the list of animals that WILL become extinct in ours.  Can you even imagine these animals completely fading from existence?

Two organizations I love are WWF and National Wildlife Federation.

Since 1961, WWF has been working to save endangered species and protect their habitats – polar bears, orangutans and tigers top the list.  (Well, that certainly covers some of my family’s favorites.)

And for over 80 years, National Wildlife Federation’s mission has been to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.  (And isn’t that what we all want?)

Both of these organizations do an amazing job of working tirelessly to protect and preserve nature and animals through education, advocacy and action, and (despite recently commenting about an abundance of mail from NWF!) I whole-heartedly support both of them.  They are also great resources for information, ideas and ways to get your family involved… and for our children, this is so crucial.

In fact, the next time you need to give a gift, consider shopping their stores – “adopt” an animal, “plant a tree”, buy a magazine subscription – or simply consider donating to their cause. We all have a long list of people who “have everything”, so next time make the gift truly meaningful.

Our daughter was so inspired to help save her beloved polar bears that she wants to donate some of her own money.  And I’m absolutely going to let her.