Designed to get young people involved in conservation education and action.

Pennies for the Planet focuses on motivating kids to learn more about key habitats and species, and to raise money to support conservation action in key places across the country. Thanks to Toyota’s generous sponsorship of this program, every penny raised by kids through this program will go directly to support on-the-ground conservation.

Each year, Pennies for the Planet features one or more key conservation projects or issues that need support. This year, the campaign focuses on these three important conservation projects:

• Project Puffin and the Seabird Restoration Project off the Maine coast

• Four Holes Swamp/Francis Beidler Forest, an ancient swamp habitat that is home to otters, owls, and rare plants in South Carolina

• Wyoming’s sagebrush "sea," an endangered habitat for pygmy rabbits, sage grouse and pronghorns

Download/View the press release (in pdf format) by clicking HERE.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED!

It's easy to take part in Pennies for the Planet. You can sponsor Pennies for the Planet in your schools, churches, youth groups, and other organizations in your community. Kids can conduct conservation action projects locally and report on that, and they can also do projects that raise money for the three targeted conservation projects.

By taking part in Pennies, kids can learn about how they can make a difference, and earn various incentives for participating in the program. Each person or team who raise money or tells us about a conservation action project they took part in will be recognized on the Pennies for the Planet website. And kids who raise money can also earn a Pennies for the Planet wristband to show that they took part in the program. The grand prize, awarded to the school or group that raises the most Pennies for the Planet, will be an Audubon Adventures Biodiversity Blitz. National Audubon Society staff will visit the prize-winning school or group to work with you to create a great program about wildlife and wild places!

We encourage you to visit www.PenniesforthePlanet.org for more resources and information (you can also go to www.TogetherGreen.org and click on the Pennies for the Planet button at the top of the home page to find information on the program). We also have a great partnership with Weekly Reader, and they will be sending information out to more than 3000 educators and 600,000 kids in January.

One school in Hermitage got involved by studying birds and collecting money to donate to Project Puffin to help restore seabird colonies. Dr. Kress visited their classroom during Earth Fest in April 2009. Read their story by clicking HERE.