Dear Seal Friends,

I promised to only send this newsletter if there is a new Donation Dive. This is not Donation Dive #3 :( but the Seal Signal Emergency Fundraiser for Zeehondencentrum. And you can still get stickers if you donate. So it kind of counts as an unplanned Donation Dive? Because the protective roof above the seals is on fire.

Short and sweet for people who just want the links:

• donate: https://stichtingzeehondencentrum.community-fundraising.com/teams/seal-signal

• screenshot & claim stickers: https://sealsignal.org/donation-dive#tab1

• sign petition: https://steun.zeehondencentrum.nl/red-het-zeehondencentrum#

Zeehondencentrum in the Netherlands, the largest seal rehab center in Europe, is on the verge of bankruptcy. They need a lot of money to get out of these dire straits, but there are seals there NOW, and even if we can just buy those more time, it might be a win.

Since doom is looming in not even two weeks, there was no time to commission sticker art or do a real print run. I turned it into a community art project, and so many fantastic artist joined the effort. There will be more seal stickers than you can imagine! I still need to whip out my scales to find out how many I can stuff into a letter. But I decided for a donation of 120 Euros, you'll get the whole package with contributions from over 15 artists (shipping that will be expensive, hence the hefty price tag) ... and maybe there's a surprise postcard or two, because there might be a postcard stretch goal.

The stickers already revealed are shown in this email, but there are new ones each day posted by @sealsignal on instagram. The letters will be sent at the end of the 2-weeks-campaign this time, after all artworks have been revealed and the logistics have been worked out.

It's been heartwarming to see so many artists and the seal community come together, but Zeehondencentrum is still far from safe. They were hoping to get funding from the communal or provincial government, but this hope fell through a few days ago. Apart from the donation effort, they also put out a petition to maybe make their government reconsider:
https://steun.zeehondencentrum.nl/red-het-zeehondencentrum#

Zeehondencentrum is an institution in seal rehab, and to lose it would not only mean losing many rehab places for seals of the Wadden Sea, but also giving up research and the unique knowledge gained over decades of seal rescue work.

There are multiple ways to donate; their website, adoptions, a gofundme, and a community fundraiser. I created a Seal Signal team on the community fundraiser, and this is the most transparent way because I can track your donation (you still need to send me your mailing address though). But anything works:
https://stichtingzeehondencentrum.community-fundraising.com/teams/seal-signal

alternatives:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/red-zeehondencentrum-pieterburen-doneer-nu?
https://steun.zeehondencentrum.nl/donatie#

Many of you have probably already donated and joined the effort, because it's been big news - thank you so much if you did <3

I know Zeehondencentrum needs much, much more than I can hope to generate, but let's try our best and see what we can save, for the seals, for the people who care for seals, and for our community, to whom Zeehondencentrum is one of the big anchors in a vast sea.

The next regular Donation Dive won’t happen until next year, because this one will probably ruin my writing hand and wear down my resources. Time to gain some new blubber over winter & talk to you again in spring!

Simone
from The Seal Signal