With Spring in the air, and Earth Month fast approaching, this is an exciting time to be part of an environmental organization such as Wildlife Research Team. This, our second issue of The Canoe View News, contains a slice of South Florida's wide-ranging "green" community. As you explore our pages, you will also discover loads of fun things you can do, many of them FREE, to develop your awareness of the natural wonders all around us.

Thanks to everyone whose warm wishes and encouragement kept our tiny staff going as we put this second issue together. Many pots of tea were brewed to fuel our determination to make this issue even better. We've learned so much already; we have a ways to go, but we have already attracted some excellent new contributors to add variety to our ezine.

We give a hearty welcome to writers Brett Fitzgerald of the Snook Foundation, Ruby Allman of Outdoor Adventures Klub, and Bob G. Cannon, II of the rare tropical fruit world! We are sure that you will enjoy the words they share with us. It's a continuing source of delight to me how diverse and fascinating a group our Team attracts.

Like all nonprofits, WRT has been affected by the current economic situation. Our hearts go out to those fine, hardworking charities affected by fraud, corruption, and Ponzi schemes, on top of all of our country's other economic woes. Our Team is much smaller, although just as determined to make a difference in the world! Thank goodness, our biggest problem right now is getting our beloved Sport Trac back to towing our canoe trailers! I must profusely thank the wonderful volunteers who have helped us to keep at least our bare-bones schedule of waterway and coastal cleanups since the engine on our Ford failed on December 3, 2008. Woody, Tom, Ken, Mike, Freddy, Fernando, you guys are true Environmental Heroes!

I certainly agree with the folks who said it was rotten timing for our three-year-old, well-maintained, low-mileage vehicle to break down at the end of the worst year for charitable donations on record! But we must keep paddling, no matter how rough the waters. This is the time for creativity and courage! I know for a fact that people's hearts are still in the right place and they are looking for ways to help, so that essential resources don't disappear in this global fiscal emergency. I've learned that canoeing is a metaphor for Life itself. We can only get through this by not panicking, same as if we were out in our canoes and a bad storm came up! Keep our heads, dig in harder, plan our course through the waves and safe harbor. Never has teamwork been more important to our survival on every level!

So here are a few ways to help keep YOUR Team around for a good long voyage:

Win a Green Canoe!
Yes, we are raffling off a new solo canoe, a 14-foot Mohawk Odyssey made from tough, lightweight Royalite, list price over $800. This fundraiser coincides with our St. Patrick's Day benefit dinner hosted by the world-renowned Ocean Manor Resort on Galt Ocean Mile on Fort Lauderdale's famous beach. The canoe is still factory green, so it fits the theme of that day when everyone is thinking green! It weighs about 43 lbs, but holds 400 lbs, and handles every type of water very well, to include whitewater.

Raffles are funny things, we've learned, due to a lot of abuse in the past. We can only suggest a donation per chance; no purchase can actually be forced on the public. But we are allowed to limit the number of tickets per person, to avoid some jerk putting 500 free tickets into the pot! I know YOU wouldn't do that! But we want everyone to get a fair chance while hoping to raise as much as we can, at a suggested donation of just $5 per chance. Kids too! No age restrictions! The contest will end on June 13, 2009, at midnight, and we will draw the winning ticket at 2 pm, on June 14, 2009, at WRT's Canoe Shop, 4701 Orange Drive, Davie Florida. You do NOT have to be present to win!

We are re-using business cards for our tickets, to save a tree. So if you choose to mail your donation, include a business card with YOUR NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER printed clearly on the back! Or you can safely donate via PayPal on our website, and we will drop a business card with your contact information into the box. Mail donations to: 8530 Old Country Manor, Suite 125, Davie FL 33328, in care of Donna Kazo; put "canoe raffle" into the memo on your check. The only people ineligible are WRT's directors and their immediate families. Everyone else, even longtime WRT core members may enter.

Two more ways to help WRT
If you sell things on eBay (and who doesn't, it seems?) WRT is registered as a charity with their nonprofit organization, MissionFish. This means you can request that a portion of your proceeds can go towards Wildlife Research Team!

WRT is also registered with iGive.com, the online charity mall with over 700 well-known stores. Please take a few moments to check out the terrific deals at these merchants; many offer free shipping, but all will donate a part of your purchase to Wildlife Research Team if you sign up and specify we are your chosen cause! They do NOT charge you, or us, a fee for this! Save gas and shop online, and painlessly help to support your Team's mission of environmental education through habitat restoration and conservation. We've been keeping the waters of Florida safer for wildlife since 1993 and plan to keep on paddling for a while yet, with the support of good folks like YOU.

Thanks for reading The Canoe View News, and for your interest in Wildlife Research Team! You can contact us by email at .

And don't forget Earth Hour on March 28: lights out at 8:30 pm for one hour to show how much we can reduce the world's carbon footprint.

Hope to see YOU in a black canoe, my friends,

Donna