Hey everyone! my name is Mel, and I am new to the group! Thanks for having me! Little about me, I am a teacher, a small business owner, and a mother of 5 amazing furbabies! I have three labs who currently share one brain cell, (Seamus, Sterling and Charlie) and two kitties (Smitten and Monkey). I live with them on 1 acre in Ferndale, WA. We have lived in WA since August of 2021, and we LOVE living in the PNW! A very nice change from Austin, TX :). Looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning and growing! Here are a few pictures of my babies!

It is time to come together again and choose the organization that will receive Empowering Animals’ October donation. I’m so happy to share that we have $35 to donate this month! That is almost doubled since we began in June. How wonderful is that? We are growing for the animals! ❤️ This month, we have three hopeful opportunities to protect endangered Palm Cockatoos, help save pangolins from extinction, and care for rescued elephants in Thailand. ❤️ People For Wildlife: Palm Cockatoo Project People For Wildlife is working to protect endangered Palm Cockatoos in Australia. Because these remarkable birds raise only one chick about every two years and old nesting trees are disappearing, the project creates and protects nesting hollows to give future generations a better chance to thrive. ❤️ Pangolin Crisis Fund The Pangolin Crisis Fund helps protect all eight pangolin species from poaching and illegal trafficking. Donations support projects around the world that rescue and rehabilitate pangolins, protect their habitats, combat wildlife trafficking, and work with local communities. ❤️ Pangea Elephant Sanctuary: Bring Kariba Home Kariba, who is currently healing and waiting for approval to travel. Pangea needs to raise approximately $115,000 for Kariba’s move from Belgium to her new sanctuary home in Portugal once she is fully healed, along with her transitional care. We also have a special way to support GRACE gorillas through the beautiful gorilla shirts available at Cause & Chaos Graphic Tees, created with artwork donated by @Kate Bullock especially for Empowering Animals. I received my gorilla shirt on Sunday, and it is gorgeous! I’m so happy to be able to support GRACE

I'm so glad you're here! Empowering Animals is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit community for people who love animals and want to make a difference. This community was created to connect animal lovers with trusted organizations, resources, stories, education, and opportunities to help animals around the world. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝: 🐾 Rescue and nonprofit spotlights 🌿 Wildlife and companion animal education ❤️ Inspiring stories and conversations 🤝 Simple and meaningful ways to help 🐘 Opportunities to support organizations doing wonderful work for animals 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 🐾 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 Your membership helps support animal organizations every month. 🐾 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 & 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 Wear your compassion! A portion of every sale helps support animal-related causes. 🐾 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐤 Inspired by a rescued skunk named Tami Tango, all proceeds from this children's book go to All Things Wild for the care and protection of skunks. 🐾 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 Shop through our affiliate links and a portion of your purchase helps support animal organizations. 🐾 𝐏𝐚𝐰𝐬 & 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 A free resource to help connect people with wildlife rehabilitators, rescues, shelters, lost pet resources, and other animal assistance when it's needed most. All of these resources can be found in our Classroom. ❤️ 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 One of my favorite parts of Empowering Animals is that we decide together where our donations go. Each month, our community votes for an animal organization, rescue, sanctuary, or wildlife group to receive our monthly donation. No one can help every animal. But together, we can help far more than any of us could alone. ❤️ 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞'𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮! Introduce yourself in the comments and tell us a little about what brings you to Empowering Animals. If you'd like, share where you're joining from and your favorite animal.