Support Bonaire, Inc. Donates Funds
to the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary

BONAIRE N.A. & NORFOLK, VA, USA - March 18, 2004 - Thanks to the generous support of two individual donors, Support Bonaire, Inc., has donated funds in the amount of $6,600 USD to the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary Expansion Project.

The Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary is dedicated to improving the living conditions of donkeys on Bonaire and to providing a safe haven to donkeys that have been injured, malnourished, or abandoned. Currently, the Sanctuary provides food, medicine, and grazing areas for nearly 90 donkeys that reside there.

The Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary relies on support of leased land from the Government of Bonaire, land purchases from private entities, and dedicated volunteers and donors to provide for the daily care and special veterinarian needs of the donkeys who reside there. The Sanctuary includes housing and shelter for the animals, supply and maintenance facilities, and a visitor education center, and gift shop.

To accommodate the needs of wild donkeys on the island that need shelter, and provide adequate space and supplies for their care, the Sanctuary has launched a campaign to purchase additional land from the Government and enclose it. This generous donation will help support the Sanctuary's expansion project and contribute to supplies, medicines, and daily care for the growing number of donkeys requiring care and shelter.

"This donation is wonderful! It will help pay for food, medicine, and much needed land so we can provide a secure, sheltered area for Bonaire's donkeys at the Sanctuary," said Marina Melis, director of Bonaire's Donkey Sanctuary. She also noted that land costs are presently about $5600 for one hectare (2.47 acres) of land.

The long term plan of the Donkey Sanctuary is to have all of Bonaire's wild donkeys live there, away from the harm caused by automobiles, drought, dogs, and even intentional cruelty by man. For more information about the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary, please go to their website at http://www.donkeysanctuary.org or visit them on the island just south of the airport on Kaya International.

Support Bonaire, Inc., a U.S. nonprofit organization, provides funding to support Bonaire's nonprofit social and environment efforts. It is through the generosity of individual contributors and donors, such as this, that we are able to continue supporting important charitable projects on the island. In addition to the expansion efforts at the Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary Expansion, Support Bonaire, Inc. provides support for special projects at the following organizations: Bonaire Animal Shelter, Foundation for Bonaire Art & Culture (Stichting voor Kunst en Cultuur van Bonaire, Coral Resource Management (Fundashon pa Bon Koral), Foundation Preservation Klein Bonaire, Sister Maria Hoppner Foundation, Bonaire National Marine Park, and Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire. For more information about our work or any of these projects, please go to our website at http:/SupportBonaire.org.

As a U.S. IRS approved 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, Support Bonaire, Inc. provides a forum for making tax exempt donations to charitable projects on the island of Bonaire. For those interested in contributing to our work, donations can be made on-line through our Web site at http://www.SupportBonaire.org by clicking Make a Donation or by mailing a check to Support Bonaire, Inc. at our U.S. address at 101 West Main Street, Suite 820, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1694.

Marina Melis with a baby donkey at the Donkey Sanctuary.
Photo by Martin DeWeger

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