Progress Report for July, 2018

Dear Friends of Elephant Havens,

July has been a great month for Elephant Havens! Taps and Bee, our partners in Botswana, made a visit to Dallas. They met over 50 of our friends and donors during their visit. Thank you to all who were able to attend on short notice – especially during a holiday week. And thank you, also, to our sweet friends at Food Company who donated food and refreshments for our meet and greet.

Taps and Bee were able to experience our 4th of July celebrations with parades and fireworks, go to a political rally, and enjoy a very special VIP visit to the Dallas Zoo. They were able to learn a little more about the U.S., and we learned more about wildlife conservation.

We all agreed that the Dallas Zoo has made so many incredible improvements. They’ve rescued five elephants from starvation and brought them to a little slice of heaven in our city. The elephants have a lagoon where they can completely submerge themselves and lots of space to roam. We were all so happy to see the elephants acting like wild elephants – sand bathing and swimming, trumpeting and playing together. It was very inspirational and exciting to see such a different zoo than we had many years ago.

Back in Botswana we have three contractors bidding to build our sanctuary. We are patiently (well, not so patiently) waiting for the bids! We have also spoken to vets in the area as we will need them on call when we receive our first orphans. As baby elephants are very fragile, they will undoubtedly need some assistance when they first arrive. At the very least they are usually dehydrated. We are so ready to move forward with building our orphanage!

We continue to be humbled with the trust and financial support you have given us. Please continue to tell your friends and family about Elephant Havens. I am always available to answer any and all questions, and I’m certainly open to any fundraising advice you can offer.