Help Us Decide Which Project Will Receive Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” Award

Traveling for a change is more than exploring new places and gaining new perspectives. Meaningful travel is a way to give back to local communities while embarking on a personal adventure, and Greenheart Travel is grateful to all our overseas partners working to improve their communities through important initiatives. Of course, this couldn’t be achieved without our awesome Greenheart Travel volunteers who have contributed over 200,000 hours of meaningful work abroad this year!

In honor of #GivingTuesday, we’ve decided to show our gratitude to these change-makers by making a charitable donation to one of our non-profit volunteer projects overseas. Read on to learn about the three amazing volunteer projects nominated to receive Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” Award, and how you can help us decide the award recipient.

Scroll down to the bottom of the post to cast your vote!

Meet the Award Nominees:

Animal Rescue Center in Costa Rica

A little about what the volunteer project does: 

The animal rescue center in Costa Rica is a haven for animals who were captured and sold as illegal pets, and new animals are anonymously dropped off multiple times per month. The goal of this volunteer project is to rehabilitate these animals with the intention of releasing them back into the wild.  At the rescue center, staff are trained in handling exotic animals and have spent years studying their behavior, so they know when an animal is ready to be released.

How Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” Donation will help:

Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” Donation would go toward building a new and larger rehabilitation area on site that can be used specifically for wild animals in the process of being released. During this final phase, these need to be largely isolated from other animals and humans to “relearn” their natural behavior. With the expansion, Greenheart Travel hopes to help double the number of rescued animals released back into the wild.

Read more about how this animal rescue center is making a difference!

Elephant Conservation Project in Sri Lanka

A little about what the volunteer project does:

Greenheart Travel’s volunteer project in Sri Lanka works directly with the human-elephant conflict in the country to try and alleviate one of the leading threats to the local elephant population. This conflict is an ongoing struggle with Sri Lankan farmers encroaching on elephants’ territory and in return, elephants destroying farmers’ livelihoods.

How Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” Donation will help:

Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” donation would go toward the continued expansion of citrus groves for farmers to create natural deterrents for elephants. This donation would cover the cost of nearly 30 farms to get a citrus barrier, making a huge impact on the local economy, elephant conservation and sustainable development.

Read more about how this elephant conservation project is making a difference!

Stray Dog Rescue Project in Thailand

A little about what the volunteer project does:

The Thailand Stray Dog Rescue project, is addressing a rapidly growing population of street dogs that continues to escalate at an exponential rate. Volunteers working to improve the quality of life for these dogs and puppies have performed over 300 sterilizations and nearly 600 vaccinations. The rescue center currently has over 800 dogs in different packs and areas that require attention.

How Greenheart Travel’s “Give Back” Donation will help:

Greenheart Travel wants to help expand the veterinary facilities in Hua Hin in a number of ways. The donation would go toward:

• Purchasing 12 more kennels
• A recreational play area
• A new adoption zone

These additions would double the size of the current clinic, allowing the staff to treat and release nearly four times the amount of dogs.

Read more about how this stray dog rescue project is making a difference!

Ready to vote?

Ready to tell us which volunteer project you would like to see receive this award?

Click on the poll below to place your vote! The poll will be open until 11:59pm CDT on December 7th.

We’ll announce our award recipient on December 8th so stay tuned!

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