Author Archives: johnshepler

Help Me Take Good Care of Sick Elephants

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Dear Friends,

Can you give less than a minute of your time to help Take Good Care of Sick Elephants? And heads up, I’m not asking for money.

I’m raising funds to support the life-saving work of Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand. This unique facility cares for sick and injured working Thai elephants and has the special capability of making new prosthetic legs for elephants who have lost theirs in land …

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I need your help making FREE MONEY for Take Good Care of Sick Elephants. There’s this new add-on for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox called Gumdrop. It saves you money while helping our project. Get it here.

Once you add it, every time you shop online:

1. Goodshop Gumdrop will search through more than 500,000 coupons/deals to automatically bring you the best discounts wherever you shop online.

2. A portion of each participating sale will be automatically donated to Take Good Care of Sick Elephants for FREE!

To date, Goodshop has saved shoppers more than $100 million and raised more than $12 million for causes like ours. It’s been featured by Good Morning America, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times and more!

Thanks!

John

Help Energize The Elephant Hospital

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What happens when you have a power failure in a hospital? The lights go off, the fans stop, water doesn’t flow, and all the computers, phones & other equipment cease to function.

Ele-Meds-NightAThat’s exactly the problem the world’s first hospital just for elephants is having, especially during the rainy season in northern Thailand. When big storms come rolling through, the lights flicker and then go out for hours or even days.

Like any hospital, Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital has critical needs to meet for the care of its 5 permanent residents and 12 current in-patients. There’s also no telling when another elephant with a difficult labor, debilitating illness or severe injuries will show up for help. Often that means medication, veterinarian care or even major surgery in the middle of the night. You can’t really expect to do this with a flashlight… although that’s exactly what the staff had to do during a recent emergency.

We’re going to keep the lights, fans, and other equipment on with backup power from the sun. A stand-alone package of solar panels, charge regulator, storage batteries and power inverter is reasonably priced, supplied locally, and can be quickly installed at each of the 20 or so units to power the infirmaries, offices, staff & visitor acSolar-Panel-InstallationBcommodations. The systems are silent, don’t emit noxious fumes and will keep running during extended outages. Even if major storm damage knocks out one or two systems, the others will keep running.

The total cost of this project may be as high as $18k to $20K, but we’ll fund the systems one by one so the hospital can get immediate help and continuing improvements as time goes on. Your gift of $10 to $100, or more if you can afford it, will make a big impact right away. We’ll keep you up to date on how the project is proceeding and the difference it is making in the lives of the elephants and the people who are taking care of them.

Will you be one who keeps the lights on for elephants? Please support the Keep The Lights On For Elephants fundraiser now. Thank you so much.

Help Complete The Elephant Leg Factory

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Mosha Wearing LegD The prosthetic leg factory, just for elephants, will soon be operating at Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand. This is a unique and wonderful facility that can make and repair custom-fit artificial limbs for elephants who need them.

Why do elephants need replacement legs? For the same reason people do. Something horrible has happened to these elephants and one of their legs was damaged so badly that it needed to be amputated. The most common situation is that a working elephant accidentally steps on a hidden land mine from some long forgotten conflict in Southeast Asia. In seconds, massive amounts of flesh are shredded, leaving the poor, unsuspecting elephant to limp back to its camp.

An elephant with half a leg can barely walk, much less work. The most dire option is to mercifully euthanize the elephant. Nobody wants that option if there is any hope whatsoever. Today, there is.

LegFactoryEquip3Friends of the Asian Elephant is dedicated to treating sick and injured elephants in the Thailand – Burma area. They have worked with leading prosthetics doctors to develop an artificial leg that can take the weight of a walking elephant, yet cause no pain or further damage.

The legs work beautifully. Two pioneering patients, Mosha and Motala, have proven that elephants nearly killed from exploding land mines can recover and lead relatively normal elephant lives. The only problem remaining is that the legs need frequent repairs from the enormous stresses of movement. Growing younger elephants, like Mosha, need new legs the way we need new and larger pairs of shoes as we grow up. Often this means long waits for equipment and expertise to arrive at the hospital.

LegFactory021316EAThis is what the new elephant prosthetic leg “factory” will fix. A building has been constructed on-site and tools and equipment ordered. Everything is being installed right now. Within the next month, they hope to start working on the first elephant leg repairs and replacements.

Does this sound like a worthy effort that you would like to help finish? Your support is needed right now to pay for all of the construction, specialized equipment, tools, and supplies that are needed to make new elephant “legs.” We’ve raised over half the amount required, and now must make a final push to collect the money needed to pay the bills and ensure that when elephants need legs, everything will be there to make or repair them.

Please consider making a donation right now, while you are thinking of it. Any amount from $10 on up will be greatly appreciated. Our CrowdRise fundraiser can take credit card payments worldwide.

Building a Factory to Make New Legs for Elephants

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mosha82809fHere’s an opportunity to be part of an amazing project that will make a huge difference, indeed the difference between life and death, for Asian elephants disabled by land mine explosions.
Oh, you didn’t know that elephants could step on land mines? It happens in former battle zones in Southeast Asia. Cheap land mines that were once intended for enemy armies still lie abandoned by the thousands. All it takes in one wrong step in the jungle and… the loss of a foot or even an entire leg.

Elephants are very resilient creatures, but even they can’t hobble around in pain on shredded limbs. Of course, its not possible to make them whole again… but it is possible to give them the closest thing possible to the mobility they enjoyed before the accident. Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand has pioneered a process to create prosthetic legs that can take the  weight and stresses of movement of massive elephants. They work much the same as artificial legs for humans, but built sturdier. Two land mine victims, Mosha and Motala have worn theirs for years. The only problem is how do you get one-of-a-kind custom fit elephant legs repaired when they break and how can you quickly make more when new patients arrive at the hospital?

Whmoshaslegsm2.10.01.09at FAE hospital has decided to do is create a workshop “factory” to fabricate, adjust and repair prosthetic limbs for elephants on-site. This will make it possible to help disabled elephants almost in real-time compared to the weeks and months the process takes now.The one snag is… it’s not cheap to build such a facility. The cost is estimated at 400,000 THB equi
valent to over $11,300 USD. Even so, can you think of a more valuable asset to help these ailing eles.

Here’s where we come in. I’ve launched a CrowdRise fundraiser to Help Build The Elephant Leg Factory. We’re going to raise the money needed to build and stock this new workshop with the tools and supplies to serve Mosha, Motala, and any other elephants in need. Will you help us raise the $11,500 we’ve set as our goal as soon as possible? You can donate quickly and easily through our CrowdRise fundraising page.

 

Make Your Christmas Sparkle & Help Elephants

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If you love elephants, you’ll love Sparkle. She’s a baby elephant sized wire frame holiday display that glows a beautiful golden color under your tree or, perhaps out in the yard. Yes, we did auction one of her sisters last year as a fundraiser for Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand. No, the Sparkle in this picture is ours and she stays with us. You’ll be bidding on another of her identical twins through our eBay auction that is currently in progress.

Sparkle elephant at homeDo you think that maybe you’ve seen this Gemmy Sparkle ornament on display at Lowe’s? You might of last year, but they are not offering an elephant display this year. In fact, I couldn’t find her or anything similar even on the Gemmy site. That makes Sparkle and her sisters rare, indeed, and getting rarer and they are adopted into good homes. Really, who’s going to let go of this precious elephant once she moves into their home?

Did I mention that your winning bid not only gets you this exciting holiday elephant but also helps elephants? It’s true. In fact, I’m donating 100% of the winning bid price on eBay once again to the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital. Shipping costs vary, so you’ll be responsible for that.

Don’t think about this for too long. It’s a one week auction and we already have an opening bid. Join in the fun and perhaps get your own brand new in-the-box Sparkle elephant in plenty of time for holiday cheer. Here’s the listing link again.

Good Luck!

Update Sunday, October 11, 2015: Congratulations to Nancy Nortell for being the big winner of this eBay auction in support of FAE. 

How and Why I’m Going Bananas For Elephants

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By: John Shepler

I’m turning 65 this June. It’s a big birthday. One that justifies a big celebration. But instead of collecting more stuff (the house is already overflowing), I’ve decided to dedicate my birthday to a personal passion, improving the lives of elephants.
Version 2Elephants are Hurting in Asia
Elephants are hard at work in Asian countries, such as Thailand. Just like people, elephants get sick and injured on the job.Unlike people, there aren’t hospitals and quick care medical centers around every corner. There is one hospital just for elephants, though. This is the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. It’s the world’s first hospital dedicated to treating elephants for as long as they need it. It’s also unique in that the mahouts that work one on one with the elephants are invited to stay at the hospital while their elephant is being cared for, at no charge for mahout or elephant.

It Costs a Lot to Care For Elephants
In my conversations with Soraida Salwala, the founder of the FAE hospital, I learned that just the food to care for the elephants staying at FAE is an expensive proposition. These eles are large and so are their appetites. They consume up to 3 tons per day of grass and bananas, depending on how many patients there are. This includes 1,700 hands of bananas per week that costs about 10,200 Thai Baht or around $340 USD. Grass and Bananas together cost $1,631 per week. And then there’s medicine, doctors, caregivers and facility expenses. All of this has to be provided by generous donations from supporters worldwide.

The Let’s Go Bananas Campaign
I’d love to raise funds that cover all the costs of feeding and  caring for the elephant at FAE, but I thought that a good start would be a campaign that would pay for at least the bananas. Some quick mental math says that one donation of $65 for each day in the month of June would easily cover the cost of the banana deliveries plus a little extra. $65 x 30 days in the month comes out to $1950. That’s a lucky coincidence because 1950 was the year I was born. Seems cosmically ordained, doesn’t it?

How the Fundraiser Works
I’ve set up a fundraiser on CrowdRise to make the process of donating fast and easy. It’s called, as you might suspect, “Going Bananas for Elephants”. I’m asking for $65 from everyone who would like to contribute, but this is not a hard and fast number. If it’s too much, a smaller contribution will also be appreciated. Of course, if you’d like to go bananas too, multiples of $65 will provide even more care for the elephants. The basic idea is to reach or exceed the $1950 goal by the end of June and send the collected funds to Soraida at FAE to support the operation of the hospital. I am going to match the first $650 in donations at the end of the month and add that to the total as a bonus.

You can visit my fundraiser page at https://www.crowdrise.com/goingbananasforelephants or use the CrowdRise widget on this page. Just click on the big orange button that says “Donate to this Fundraiser.” Your name and donation will be added to the rotating honor roll of donors and you can see how close we are coming to the $1950 goal.

Please note that CrowdRise accepts all major credit cards. If you would prefer to contribute via PayPal, contact me and I’ll send you details. If you are planning a large corporate or organizational donation, please contact me in advance to make arrangements (ongoing).

Your Help is Very Important
Think we can do it? Will we meet the fundraising goal of $1950 by the end of the month? Well, your contribution will certainly help and I urge you to go ahead an make it now before you get busy with other things. Another way you can make a big difference is to spread word of this fundraiser far and wide using your social media accounts for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and personal email lists. If you know anyone who is sympathetic to the plight of elephants, please give them the chance to participate. These contributions really will make a difference in the lives of elephants and their mahouts who need the care only Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital can provide.

July 1, 2FundraiserAnnouncement015 Update
The amazing enthusiasm and participation of everyone who supported this fundraiser in June pushed us well past the goal and up to ….. drumroll, please… $3,065, which is over 100, 000 THB at today’s conversion rate.

I’ve sent your contributions on to Soraida at FAE, but I’m leaving the “Go Bananas” fundraiser open for the indefinite future. Why? I know some of you who would like to have donated didn’t hear about the campaign in time or had other commitments that prevented you from making a contribution during the month of June. You are still in luck! CrowdRise will graciously accept your credit card donations and I will send you the PayPal address upon request. Funds collected will be periodically forwarded to Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand. Thank you so much for your support!