Dec 13 2008
TripAdvisor’s Million Dollar Giveaway
TripAdvisor, a “travel community” with thousands of reviews and recommendations, recently held a competition to give away $1,000,000 to some very worthy charities:
Conservation International: An organization committed to the concept of “ecotourism”—a buzzword in today’s travel industry with significant meaning. CI “work(s) to address climate change; design conservation strategies that improve human well-being and ensure local economic benefits; and discover and protect irreplaceable species like lions, lemurs, pandas, leatherback sea turtles and ‘walking’ sharks.”
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): “An independent, international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters.” The organization has received significant media attention lately and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
National Geographic Society: Although this society is quite well-known and doesn’t really need much of an introduction, the organization “is one of the world’s largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations and is dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet.” National Geographic focuses on scientific research, conservation plans, and other educational initiatives to help sustain the world’s habitats and cultures.
The Nature Conservancy: This organization’s title reveals its mission—“we pursue non-confrontational, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges and partner with indigenous communities, businesses, governments, multilateral institutions, other non-profits’ and people such as yourself” to help conserve the world’s environments and habitats.
Save The Children: “Save the Children reaches over 41 million girls and boys worldwide including the United States to ensure that they grow up safe, educated, healthy and better able to attain their rights.” The organization is committed to ensuring that children all over the world are protected, nourished, and have the opportunity to learn.
TripAdvisor’s members voted on which organizations they wished to receive the money and the following is how the winnings were broken down (which is pretty interesting, I think):·
- $392,000 Doctors Without Borders ·
- $347,000 Save the Children ·
- $137,000 The Nature Conservancy ·
- $70,000 Conservation International ·
- $54,000 National Geographic Society
It’s wonderful to see so many good causes receive some much-needed donations. Thank you to all these organizations for their hard work and commitment and thank you to TripAdvisor for the large donation. Please visit each site’s website to find out more and make your own personal contribution.
