Young wildlife supporter melts hearts and raises funds for WWF

On her 9th birthday in February, Malin Storaas spurned presents from her friends, asking them instead to donate to WWF. The urge to help animals started last year, when she saw injured animals on television. But she wasn’t quite ready to forsake gifts, as she explains. However, a year later, she had “matured” and was now ready to do without all the cool stuff coveted by kids that age.

(C) Ximena Salcedo/WWF-Canada

 
Indeed, Malin hugely impressed the Ottawa staff with her maturity and single-minded passion. She’s clearly destined for work with animal welfare or environmental issues. For instance, she has already organized a neighborhood clean-up with her friends for the summer. Her beaming parents and visiting grandparents, together with her younger sister, listened as she explained her concerns and aspirations.

Accompanying the $240 she donated to help animals was a hand-written, illustrated letter. Malin isn’t discriminatory about animals as, she writes, “My favourite animal is a tiger, bear, blue jay, skunk, elephant and giraffe.” She depicts herself astride an elephant.

Thank you, Malin, for the money and the effort to present it to us. Thank you, also, for softening my heart and brightening our day! Good luck and we Pandas hope to see you again!