ey for them
It wasn’t by chance that George R. R. Martin made wolves into mystical, wise beings with special spiritual powers in his Game of Thrones books; he has a genuine soft spot for the animals. He loves them so much that he set up a wildly popular fundraiser to help out the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is near where he and his wife Parris live. The grand prizes, which have already been snapped up, was the opportunity to get killed off in upcoming Game of Thrones book, but there is so much more available.
The project reached its goal of $200,000 in a day, and with 56 days left, it’s already getting super close to its stretch goal of $500,000. Proceeds will not only go to the wolf sanctuary, but also to Martin’s local food bank, The Food Depot, which serves a wide area in north New Mexico. Even small donations will be earn you an entrance in a drawing to be flown out to New Mexico to hang out with George R.R. Martin himself and ride around with him in a helicopter above the Sanctuary.
Martin wrote about his passion for these charities on the prizeo website where you can enter to win.
I’ve always been fond of wolves… direwolves in Westeros, and real wolves in the real world. US wolf populations hit critical lows during the twentieth century, and finding a way for humans to co-exist with these majestic creatures is an important part of the conservation movement. The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that houses over 60 wolves and wolf-dogs. Most of these animals are rescued, but don’t have the skills to survive in the wild because they were raised in captive situations.
I’m also supporting The Food Depot, an amazing local charity that helps the tens of thousands of people in North New Mexico. As the food bank for nine counties, The Food Depot provides food to 135 not-for-profit agencies including food pantries, meal programs, homeless shelters, youth programs, senior centers, homes for the mentally disabled and shelters for battered persons. The food bank distributes an average of 400,000 pounds of food each month, providing more than 500,000 meals to people in need – the most vulnerable of our community – children, seniors, working families and those in ill health.
Here are some more prizes you can snatch up if you have the cash to give:
– $450.00 you can get a signed map of Westeros
– $600.00 merits a signed copy of a Game of Thrones cookbook
– $1,200.00 and you’ll get a special handwritten thank you note
The biggest prizes are already gone, but here’s what they were:
– $4,500.00 got one person copy of the script of the first Game of Thrones episode signed by the cast members.
– One person paid $7,500.00 for tickets to a Season 5 premiere, and other paid the same amount for one of George R. R. Martin’s hats
– $15,000.00 got somebody a breakfast date with GRRM
– Two people paid $20,000.00 to get killed off by GRRM
