Each year the Orang Utan Republik Foundation raises money to provide scholarships as part of its successful Orangutan Caring Scholarship (OCS) program.
Now in its thirteenth year, the OCS has been able to award 150 scholarships through our partner organizations (Orangutan Information Center, Yayasan Palung, and Borneo Nature Foundation) for students who seek support to pay for tuition in the schools of biology, forestry and veterinary science. Already 90 students have graduated from universities located in the orangutan range provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan.
While OURF applies to foundations and other organizations to help financially support the program, it also encourages peer-to-peer fundraisers on platforms such as Facebook. OURF President Gary Shapiro created a fundraiser on his Facebook page for his birthday in August 2018 during which over $700 was raised. He and his wife, Inggriani personally added $800 to the total to provide an additional scholarship for 2019. Each scholarship is valued at $1500 and provides university tuition for four years and write-up funds for the student working on their research program.
OURF continues to run a holiday campaign on Facebook to raise funds for another Orangutan Caring Scholarship (OCS); however, OURF volunteers Huib Kleinhout and Wuri Kleinhout-Rostandy, of Sweden were very successful in sponsoring the OCS and raising funds for the scholarship program through the Google employee #Givingweek event during November 2018. Huib works for Google in the Sweden office and was able to register the OCS for the campaign. A total of $7,786 was raised over a two-week period mainly by Google employees in Sweden. These funds will provide 5 new scholarships in 2019!
OURF is appreciative of the efforts of Huib and Wuri, and to the generous Google employees who donated to the campaign. The generosity of Facebook friends to help support Gary’s birthday fundraiser is also appreciated. OURF encourages supporters to contribute towards the current Facebook campaign that OURF volunteers Kim Riley and Laura Molina established on #GivingTuesday. It runs until the end of the year. To participate visit: https://www.facebook.com/donate/329484971201568/10156311398441028/