This week at Modern Kids Design we wanted to hightlight a project that one of our nonporofit partners, One More Generation (OMG), is working on. They are trying to help stop poaching. With only five species of rhinoceros remaining on Earth the collective number of rhinos is estimated to be 25,000 to 35,000. OMG points out that unless we do what ever we can to help stop poaching, it is likely that each of us reading this article will see the extinction of rhinos in our lifetime.

OMG was founded by two elementary school students in Fayetteville, Georgia. Carter, now 13, and his sister Olivia, now 11, founded their own non-profit to help educate kids and adults about the plight of endangered species. OMG was founded shortly before the Gulf Oil Spill, and Carter and Olivia contributed to the clean-up effort by gathering supplies to help the animal rescue agencies involved in the effort.

It was during this experience that they learned about a topic we speak frequently about here at Modern Kids Design — plastic pollution in our oceans. In response to the threat to marine life and our food chain, OMG launched their Plastic Awareness Coalition in 2011, on Carter’s 10^th birthday! Carter, Olivia, and the team at OMG created a curriculum to help educate students at elementary schools around the country and it’s available for any school that wants to have a ‘Plastic Awareness Week’.

In 2013, when Carter and Olivia learned about the increasing numbers of rhinos being poached, they started a Rhino Letter Writing Campaign. The campaign was intended to call attention to the issue and to bring more accountability to bear on the South African government, where much of the world’s rhino poaching takes place.

Rhino horns are believed to have medicinal qualities in some cultures. As a result, ground up rhino horns sell for more than their weight in gold! With that much money involved, rhinos are endangered by more than poaching, they are endangered by corruption that allows poaching to continue unfettered.

Carter and Olivia hoped to only get 1,000 signatures from children all around the world in their Rhino Letter Writing Campaign. Rhinos hold a special place in our hearts and in the hearts of children around the world. One More Generation received over 10,000 letters which Olivia and Carter delivered by hand to the South African government as part of a 5 day trip of education and awareness on rhino poaching in South Africa.

A film crew accompanied Carter and Olivia on their trip and they are in the process of producing a documentary to shed further light on the plight of rhinos. You can see the trailer for the video here:

http://itsyourplanet.org/

If you’d like to learn more about One More Generation and want to help Carter and Olivia stop rhino poaching, visit their website here and know that when you shop with us, up to 10% of sales will go support our nonprofit partners through our Shop + Give Donation Program. We’re so impressed by their work and so happy to support Carter and Olivia. These are modern kids — smart, caring, and environmentally conscious!