SOURCE :

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Here are a few ideas that will really make a difference:

• OUTREACH -- We can provide you with SSCS newsletters (log) and master copies of information sheets which you can copy to your heart's content to use in any of the following ways:

Tabling at a Local Event, Expo or Making Your Own Information Table:
Help create awareness of the problems facing our world -- including the destruction and exploitation of marine wildlife worldwide. We provide the materials, you set up a decorative display at an already-arranged event or find a location in your town where you can set up an information table. Hand out information and talk to people about Sea Shepherd - focus on getting new members to join!

Hold a Benefit for SSSC at a Local Pub, Restaurant, Community Meeting Place:
Use your creative energies to put together a small concert or theme event for the benefit of your favorite charity (SSCS!). If you know musicians or entertainers (comedians, magicians, or other performers) you can easily put together a fun night. You could collect a door charge for SSCS and have an information table inside the event.

Cultivate Public Awareness:
Participate in protests/demonstrations led and/or organized by Sea Shepherd! Let us know if you are available to meet at a public place or government building to display signs, get petitions signed and get the word out!

Use your creativity to reach out to the public - create billboards and/or signs to educate the public!

Have a Sea Shepherd Party:
Invite everyone you know to join you for a House Party featuring videos of exciting Sea Shepherd footage saving marine life on the high seas! Plan ahead: Get newsletters from the office, information sheets and buy or borrow a videotape to show on your VCR. (If you have a birthday to celebrate, you could ask for donations in lieu of gifts...)

Distribute information:
Copy and distribute Sea Shepherd info to anyone and everyone that may be interested in helping to protect marine wildlife. Please stress to them that a donation of any kind sent to our main address (P.O. Box 2616, Friday Harbor, WA 98250) would be very helpful, and that for donations of US$25.00 or more they will receive our newsletter and be eligible to crew on our ships SSCS accepts credit cards. SSCS also offers a recurring gift donation plan called the Direct Action Crew - donors can make a monthly or quarterly donation via their MasterCard, Visa, or American Express and from the U.S. or Canada they may use their checking account. See the form on the backside of the Donation Form, which is stapled into the middle of each newsletter. We also have some other special donation plans in the works which are featured on this website.

• BECOME A SSCS NEWSLETTER "BULK DISTRIBUTOR":

Help distribute our bi-annual newsletter, the Sea Shepherd Log! Each time we print it, we will send you whatever quantity you think you can hand out to potential supporters or place in a prominent public setting(i.e., library, coffee house, book store, scuba or marine shop, etc...).

• CULTIVATE MEDIA AWARENESS:
In the never-ending quest to wake up and shake up people into realizing there is wildlife in peril, it helps to get as much media coverage as possible. Send a letter or call your local TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines telling them about the work that SSCS has been doing for 25+ years. Aside from being a story with a good cause, the footage and photographs are dynamic and exciting, and make for a great show or article. We get many new members from every article, TV show, news coverage and documentary that airs about SSCS. *You can give the media our main telephone numbers (360-370-5650) and we will be happy to provide them with images or video.

• WISH LIST DONATIONS:
Keep an eye on our "Wish List" to see what items are needed both on the ship and in the office. Feel free to call the office any time for an updated list. If you are asking someone else to donate an item, be sure to mention that in the United States, Sea Shepherd is what is called a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which means that cash and material donations are tax-deductible. When we receive a material gift, the donor can provide proof of the "fair market value" for which we can issue a receipt.

• OFFICE VOLUNTEERS:
The Society is seeking responsible volunteers with strong communication, general clerical and organizational skills for office work at our HQ, satellite offices, or even from their own home. Volunteers will participate in a variety of projects and general office activities. Please call the office at 360-370-5650 or email
[e-mail]
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to see how you can help in the offices or from your home.

• VOLUNTEER CREWMEMBERS:
SSCS is constantly looking for crewmembers to work aboard our vessels that sail international waters to investigate, document and enforce marine conservation-related laws, regulations and treaties, as well as for other creative conservation work. Crewmembers are chosen by skills, dedication and commitment, and also by the time that they have available. Wherever our ships are docked there is a necessity for people to help maintain and clean the vessels. So, if our ship comes into a port near you, we may need your help. To volunteer to crew on our ships, visit our crewing page and download a printable application.

MORE IDEAS...AND NOT JUST FOR STUDENTS!

1. Set up a fund-raiser at your school or in your town (bake sale, lemonade sale, car wash).

2. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or write a report about Sea Shepherd. Conservation Society to help your community, class and teacher learn about an organization of "regular citizens" just like yourself who decided to stop talking about problems and do something active to make a difference!

3. Start a club at school or with your friends -- continue in your efforts to tell more people about what is happening to our world and start taking care of it now.

• Plan letter-writing meetings -- Once you learn about some way that marine life is being harmed, learn as many facts as you can, gather all of the addresses of government officials who could help stop the abuse and get everyone to write intelligent, polite and direct letters. In the U.S., write your Senators and Representatives -- to find out whom to write, call 202-224-3121 for Senate Information and 202-225-3121 for House of Representatives information.

• Plan events similar to the ones mentioned above (fundraising, dances, parties or video-watching).

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