BLOG

Ok, so this is not really a Blog in technical terms. But, it IS a journal of some of what DARLING CETACEANS has been up to. This page was originally created to track our adventures with the 1st "Walruses & Whales on Wheels." The 2005/2006 journey has come to an end, but the mission continues. Read what we have been up to lately.

04/07/08

The Candy Bar Campaign is underway. We are asking businesses, corporations, celebrities and you to buy a 100 Grand candy bar for $1,000. The proceeds from this event will ensure that we may help stranding networks rescue whales, seals and other marine mammals, and we can continue to inspire children to care for our earth.

Somewhat related -- we are having a heck of a time getting videos in a format to post on YouTube, MySpace and other places. We finally got one recorded and posted on YouTube (after 2 hrs trying to upload it) and the sound is now messed up. We won't give up, though.

Go to the $150 Grand w/ 100 Grand page to get all the details.

D.C. is about to begin the biggest fundraiser we have ever done. The goal is $150,000, which is pocket change for some. But, for us, it means more than we can express. We are seeking 150 people and businesses from around the globe who would like to make a big difference in the world with only a $1,000 contribution. The campaign will all the details begins April 1st and we need anyone who can help to come forward. Contact your local news, email celebrities to beg for their support... whatever you can do to let the world know what we are doing. Remember, you are helping protect animals like dolphins, seals and manatees with your work.

What a day! D.C. just returned from the 4th Annual Outhouse 500 in Coopersville, Michigan. The Outhouse 500 is an event where groups build an outhouse on wheels to race 500 feet down main street. Our entry was titled "When You Gotta Pee 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and was made entirely of recycled materials. Our team had a rough time getting down the road (a couple wheels popped off when they hit a bump), but they stayed with it. They were an awesome team! By the 3rd heat, the team ran down the street holding the flag and wheels, leaving the rest of the outhouse sitting on the side of the road. We didn't win, but we did get an award from the Coopersville Area Chamber of Commerce and we are in the news. Search YouTube for video (ours will be posted, as soon as we can convert it from 8mm). Thank you Andy, Brandon, Josiah & Julie for enduring the cold and being such great sports! Also, thank you Coopersville Hardware & Feed Supply for donating the skids (palettes) that we converted to an outhouse.

View More Pictures at the Picture Page and at the Recycle Page

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D.C. now has a mascot and her name is Connie Coral. She is an Informal Educator/SCUBA Diver who will be making appearances at events around West Michigan. But, you don't have to wait to meet her. Go to her MySpace page today to learn about her, be added to her friends list and shoot her an email. To have her come to your event, contact our Education Department.

Four more days until Christmas! If you need a last minute gift idea, how about a gift membership to DARLING CETACEANS? You will not get the certificate in time, but hey... you can blame that on us and save face.

D.C. just mailed in our registration form for the legendary, Outhouse 500. We are so excited to be part of this event! The races take place on Main Street in downtown Coopersville, February 23rd. Go to www.dayoopers.com/glry80.html to get a taste of this fun event, then come on out February 23rd to cheer us on!

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

D.C. is gaining momentum in town. In the last month or so, we have done presentations, had booths or driven in parades at several area events, including Unity Fest. We are becoming a known part of the community and are making lots of friends. One of those friends is Furious Fred, the mascot for the Muskegon Fury hockey team. He took a break in our RV at Shoreline Spectacular and we met up with him again at CELEBRATE! God's Amazing Animals. When one of our officers went to sit in at a Nature Club meeting, some of the people there knew who he was before he could introduce himself. The media is taking notice of D.C., as well. In the same time period, D.C. has been included in two publications; the Muskegon Chronicle and the Norton Shores Examiner.

Right now Jennifer and I are 3 hours in to the 24 hour drive back to Muskegon, Michigan from Boerne, Texas. What a week it has been! Rather than send other Education Staff to Texas, we decided to go ourselves, so we could see what changes have taken place in the community D.C. started in. Plus, we just love the wonderful kids in Boerne ISD.

Overall, we were pleased. The local grocery store, H-E-B, has expanded the environmentally friendly products they carry, thanks to a push from Boerne residents. Kendall Elementary has new solar panels- so new, they may not be functional quite yet. The Kendall Elementary KLEAN Team continues to do great work recycling plastic bags, paper, and ink cartridges. A plastic bottle recycle collection project they did was rewarded with coats they distributed to the community. These coats have recycled filling. Students at Fair Oakes Ranch Elementary are eager to pick up trash around their school, to keep it from ending up in rivers that lead to the Gulf of Mexico, where it can harm ocean life. Students also are responsible for emptying classroom-made paper recycle bins weekly. Keep Boerne Beautiful received funding to place cigarette collection containers outside area businesses at no cost to the business, preventing the chemical-filled butts from entering the water. Unfortunately, the couple businesses we were able to visit that once were part of the can recycling pilot program, were not continuing recycling after we left.

We had a great time talking with the students down here all week and look forward to the possibility of returning next year! We are also looking forward to returning to the students and cooler climate in Michigan.

There was a table set-up as one comes out of Sam's Club promoting the D.A.R.E. program. Interested in how they were fundraising, I stopped to talk with the young woman who was selling ID cards, a roll-up key board and other merchandise. She actually represented a company that was fundraising for D.A.R.E. and was not from the program itself. When I asked her how much of the money actually went to the D.A.R.E. program, she proudly stated 20%. She also correctly pointed out that many similar companies only give 3-6% to the non-profit they are "helping." While it is nice to get "stuff," please consider giving your donations directly to the non-profit you want to receive the money. That way, if you donate $10, then all $10 will benefit the cause, not just $2 of it.

For those who are faithful members, your April newsletter did not get lost in the mail. We chose to postpone the issue until some of the Education crew return from their trip to Texas this week. They will be conducting programs back in the town D.C. started in. We know you are an understanding group and we thank you for that!

It is amazing how connected the world is now that we have the World Wide Web! Thanks to the internet, D.C. has been able to reach thousands weekly. With the ease of email, we have been able to help students with school reports from as far away as Norway and Israel.

On the local level, we are ready to open the D.C. Museum. Unfortunately, we are still seeking space to open it. Someone in Muskegon has commercial space they are willing to donate for a few years, so children and families will have the opportunity to see real whale and seal specimens up close. Is that person you?

A volunteer worked hard creating recycle boxes to put in area businesses to collect ink cartridges and cell phones. Next will be putting them in the businesses. The boxes help keep landfills from filling, raises a little money for D.C. and helps the Muskegon community be aware that D.C. is a resource that is available to them. D.C. will also be re-starting the Green Citizen Awards. This is a great way to recognize community members for the environmentally conscious practices they do. To see recipients of Boerne, go to the Recipient page. Muskegon recipients will begin to appear their once the program is fully in place.

12/04/06

DARLING CETACEANS has been especially good this year and feel we deserve a few items from our Christmas list. The 1st item on our list is space. We are seeking someone do donate commercial space in Muskegon on a lease term for 1 to 5 years, depending on the amount of space offered. Members is number 2 on our list. We would like more people to become members, through Individual Memberships, Family/Classroom Memberships and Corporate Sponsors. We also need to pay off the last "Walruses & Whales on Wheels" adventure and could really use cash donations to do so. We can only do what you allow us to. If you can help by directly giving something from our list, or you can direct someone you know to us who can help, please do!

11/28/06

The web site is going through some major changes, thanks to the efforts of our young volunteers. We have discovered that, while thousands of you view this site weekly, you're not interested enough to stay and explore it. Also, we have not received the financial support we need. So, we put a couple high school students to work who are offering their views and learning how to do web pages at the same time.

Now that they are working on the layout, that will hopefully mean others of us can fill in the content that has been lacking for so long.

07/15/06

Recently, Joe Catey joined DARLING CETACEANS as the Executive Secretary. Joe is a long time resident of Muskegon who is helping D.C. become established and make connections. We are delighted that he has joined our team!

As we hunt for office space, seed money and make friends in the area, we have also started participating in community events. The largest event in Muskegon is the 11 day Summer Celebration, with concerts, a carnival and other festivities. We drove "Rose" in the weekend parade which had Raven as Grand Marshall. We will also be driving "Rose" in the televised Coast Guard Festival Parade in Grand Haven later this summer. Between public appearances, "Rose" has been parked in Waterfront Storage, LLC thanks to their generosity.

Contact Us For More Information

education@darlingcetaceans.com / 231-288-0999