Turtle Blogathon to raise funds for TCC

Written by Dr. Chen Pelf Nyok

Dr. Chen is the co-founder of Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia. She currently heads the community-based River Terrapin Conservation Project in Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia.

11 Oct 2009

WHAT IS A TURTLE BLOGATHON?
A Turtle Blogathon is an event where we blog non-stop for 24 hours, about matters relating to marine and freshwater turtles. We will be staying up all night, researching, writing and publishing one blog post every hour, even when you’re asleep. And for staying up all night, we collect donations.

The name “Turtle Blogathon” is adapted from the original Blogathon where bloggers update their websites every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight to raise funds for their chosen charity.

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?
The main objectives of staying awake all night and doing the Turtle Blogathon are:

  • to raise funds for the Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC) because we are a new turtle conservation organization and we are starting from zero in terms of funding. What we do have is experience, lots of experience :)
  • to disseminate information about marine and freshwater turtles because we realize that the general public doesn’t know much about the turtles, despite these creatures being on earth since many years ago. Did you know that the earliest known turtles date from 215 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards and snakes?
  • to spread awareness about the plight of these turtles, because they are fast becoming extinct. And if we do not do anything today, our future generations will not know what turtles are!

WHEN WILL IT BE?
The Turtle Blogathon will begin at 9 pm on October 25th and end at 9 pm on October 26th, 2009 (Malaysian time, GMT +0800).

WHO WILL BE INVOLVED?
Two teams will be involved in the Turtle Blogathon:

  • The TCC team comprises Chan, Pelf and Fong, our long-time volunteer. Chan has promised soup in the crock pot for 24 hours, but we will also need somebody to buy us breakfast, lunch and dinner, and perhaps help us take pictures of the three of us busy blogging (and trying hard not to fall asleep). And somebody to keep us awake in the wee hours of the night.
  • The other team will consist of you, your colleagues, your family, your friends, your blogger-mates, your Friendster, Facebook and Twitter friends and your neighbours. You could participate by:
    • sending us turtle-related questions (see next section),
    • dropping by and visiting us during the Turtle Blogathon,
    • chatting with us via IMs and Facebook Group (to keep us awake, especially throughout the graveyard shift), and
    • helping us publicize the Turtle Blogathon event — by telling your friends, or by blogging, tweeting and Facebook-ing about it :)

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?
Email your turtle-related questions to us at [email protected] anytime between now and the 22nd of October and please include your name/nickname/screen name and your website/blog URL. You can ask us anything about marine and freshwater turtles and the good thing is that you may send in as many questions that you can think of :)

We, on the other hand, will stay awake all night (and day) on Oct 25th and 26th to answer your questions.

What we ask for in return is a donation from you and your team members. No amount is too little or too much. Your donation is greatly appreciated, and will be used to support the turtle conservation projects that we carry out.

Donations can be made by direct bank transfer to the Turtle Conservation Centre’s current bank account — RHB Bank Berhad, Account Number: 2-13010-0010564-4. Please fill in the form below after you have sent us your donation. Alternatively, you can also donate via PayPal.

HOW DO I DONATE VIA PAYPAL?
By clicking the DONATE button on the sidebar on the right, you will be brought to a secure PayPal site to make the donation. You will receive a confirmation email once the transaction is completed.

Please note that the PayPal account holder is Eng Heng Chan, CEO of the Turtle Conservation Centre. You will need to have a PayPal account yourself to use the PayPal service.

Also, we would appreciate it if you would help us promote our Turtle Blogathon by telling your friends and acquaintances about it. You are most welcome to use the Turtle Blogathon badge below and link it back to this page :)

Turtle Blogathon 2009

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!
This is getting really exciting, and we are really looking forward to it! Get ready to pick our brains and see you at 9 pm on October 25th, 2009!

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