US schoolgirl shames BP with her bird drawings

[depakid]

Source: Guardian


Brown pelican drawing by Olivia Bouler
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There are very few heart-warming stories to come out of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but here's something to lift the spirits. An 11-year-old girl called Olivia Bouler, from Islip, New York, has helped to raise thousands of dollars for various conservation charities by offering to donate dozens of her exquisite bird drawings to anyone pledging money. She says her inspiration came after bursting into tears when watching a news report about the slick's advance towards the gulf coast shoreline where she holidays each year with her family.

A Facebook page called Save the Gulf: Olivia's Bird Illustrations has attracted more than 800 fans and the president of the National Audubon Society, one of the US's largest conservation charities, has personally written to Olivia to thank her for her kind gesture. This is the letter she first wrote to the society offering her artistic services:

Dear Audubon Society,
As you are all aware of, the oil spill in the Gulf is devastating. My mom has already donated a lot of money to help, but I have an idea that may also help. I am a decent drawer, and I was wondering if I could sell some bird paintings and the profits to your organization. My mom is in touch with an art gallery where I live. She is going to sell them here. I also am hoping to go to Cornell in the future. I want to become an ornithologist. I know a few species of birds. I also acknowledge that this is breeding time for plovers, terns etc. I will do all in my strength to earn money. All I need is your OK. Here is a picture of a northern cardinal as a sample.
Thank you for your time.
Olivia
11 years and willing to help.

The Audubon Society immediately contacted her parents and asked if it could buy one of the drawings to hang in its Manhattan headquarters. Charity officials then discussed how best to use Olivia's bird paintings as a fund-raising tool and it was decided, with her permission, that her watercolours of birds would be used to raise money for several groups, including the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, the Weeks Bay Foundation and the Sierra Club.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/may/26/us-schoolgirl-bp-bird-drawings

[JuniperLea]

1. Nothing is so bad...

that something good can't come from it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Very cool story!

[MrSlayer]

3. You cannot shame these people.

They are incapable of feeling shame.

[Towlie]

4. And shame doesn't plug leaks either.

[mrbarber]

5. GODDAMMIT

That 11 year old has more natural drawing talent than I do.