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Jasmine Polsinelli: Fighting for a Fur-Free Canada
“My goal is to stop the fur trade in Canada by the time I’m 20.”
11-year-old Jasmine Polsinelli has set an aggressive goal, but her dedication to animal rights makes it clear that she intends to accomplish it. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jasmine about her animal protection efforts when we called her at home in Oshawa, Ontario on an April afternoon. She had prepared answers to my questions before our discussion and bashfully warned me that she may mix up her words… though when we began chatting, I found her answers weren’t from a well-rehearsed script, but from the heart of an enthusiastic and intelligent individual with a remarkable love of animals.
Left: Jasmine with one of her family dogs, Right: Jasmine holding up a Fur Bearer Defenders T-shirt
We first became acquainted with Jasmine during our Canadian “Fur Trim is a Trap” campaign in which we partnered with The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals. Our joint efforts raised awareness about the cruelty behind trapping animals for their fur and resulted in 5000 signed postcards that appealed to Dani Reiss, President and CEO of Canada Goose, to stop supporting the industry by using coyote fur on the company’s jackets. The jackets are quickly becoming an icon of Canadian fashion, and by extension we’re seeing an unfortunate resurgence in the popularity of fur for fashion.
Jasmine bravely volunteered to personally hand-deliver the postcards- she was inspired by the thousands of individuals who, after l...
Charity Pot partner, Second Chances Wildlife Center, shares a lot of love this Mother’s day
In honor of all Mom's - human or furry, we're excited to share the story of Second Chances, our Charity Pot partner. Founder and Director, Brigette Williams joins the LUSH blog.
This Mother's Day, I am a Mom of two teenagers plus forty furry foster animals, most of which are infants. I celebrate my children and celebrate the life I am trying to offer to the babies that lost their Moms. In some way, I feel that I owe it to the Moms. Wildlife Moms are such wonderful and dedicated Moms.
When my children were a bit younger, I took them camping one weekend. That weekend played a key role in my thoughts of rehabilitating wildlife. There was a woman there that had just found two baby opossums. No one knew what to do or how to care for them. Not knowing that possessing any wildlife, even to care for it, was illegal, I took them with me; at least I had some background in caring for animals, as I have been a volunteer educator at our local zoo for almost 14 years. My children and I thoroughly enjoyed caring for "Peanut and Ginger" and we experienced our first bitter sweet release.
That was such a learning experience. I realized the critical need in our community and in 2010, founded the 100% volunteer 501c3 organization, Second Chances Wildlife Center. The need was for someone to help the often-overlooked and misunderstood wildlife. There simply was not ...
Meet Our New Charity Pot Partner: Generation Her
The Charity Pot family is expanding! We're happy to introduce you to one of our newest Charity Pot partners - Generation Her. Executive Director, Dianna Smiley joins the blog this week to share the amazing work that they're doing to support and empower teen moms.
Generation Her is so excited to be one of LUSH's new Charity Pot partners.
A non-profit organization created in 2009 by Dianna Smiley, Generation Her exists to empower teenage mothers and their children, by connecting them with a supportive community and equipping them with life skills and impacting their futures in a positive way.
We have several locations throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County serving around 45 to 60 young women a week. At Generation Her, teen moms can come and be supported, encouraged, and given hope for a brighter future. We also provide the young moms with a mentor, weekly support groups, and earned baby items. In the life skills classes we teach the girls everything from financial literacy, parenting, the importance of early literacy for children, creative projects, anger management, stress management, conflict resolutions, career and educational goal setting, healthy relationships, teen dating violence, budgeting, nutrition and healthy cooking classes, self esteem, fitness and more. Generation Her was created because of a great need to empower,...
Non-profit HoneyLove is Buzzing as LUSH’s Charity Pot Partner
Today we're excited to share HoneyLove, one of our Charity Pot partners with you. We knew there was no better way to get you buzzing than to have Chelsea and Rob write about the amazing work that they do, and all the ways that you can help!
In the Spring of 2011, HoneyLove co-founders Chelsea and Rob McFarland would have never guessed that a swarm of honey bees showing up in their backyard would provide the inspiration for what has quickly become their life's passion—a non-profit organization committed to conserving honey bees. Fast-forward to 2013 and HoneyLove has created an impressive local organization with a global footprint.
Bees pollinate 80% of the world’s plants including 90 different food crops, which means that 1 out of every 3 bites of food is thanks to a bee. However, since 2006, more than one third of honeybee colonies collapsed nationwide, a global phenomenon now called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. And while there is no one smoking gun causing CCD, scientists now widely agree that it is a result of a combination of factors, made manifest by industrial beekeeping and the use of agricultural pesticides such as neonicotinoids.
While the situation is dire, honey bees...
We're eager to protect beavers!
On a cool March morning, myself and two LUSH colleagues met Adrian Nelson of the Fur Bearer Defenders at their modest office in Vancouver.
Fur Bearer Defenders has been a LUSH Charity Pot Partner for several years, fighting against the commercial fur trade and creating opportunities to coexist with urban wildlife. We've also built a personal relationship with the organization; hosting information sessions in local shops and volunteering our time to work on projects. The three of us had volunteered our day to help a family of beavers in Mission, a community about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of our head office in Vancouver.
Why beavers? The beaver is considered a keystone species in North America, increasing the number of plant species by 1/3rd in dammed areas. They've proven to be beneficial to water quality and their ponds provide habitats for fish, waterfowl and other aquatic animals.
Our drive out to the Fraser Valley provided some time for us to get to know Adrian and his role with Fur Bearer Defenders. Adrian is their Director of Communications, and has taken a personal interest in the humane management of urban beaver populations. He travels across North America to conferences about non-lethal management of urban wildlife to build on his knowledge and provides training and assistance to communities and municipalities on alternatives to lethal trapping procedures.