There are many good reasons to give, but at their core is a desire and perhaps also a moral obligation to help others. Why?
Because lives depend on it.
We are witnessing the devastation of our planet. In almost every area, scientists say we have very little time to make sweeping changes in human behavior.
But LightHawk offers hope for a healthy planet.
“There is something transformative about seeing these impacts with our own eyes by flying at such a low altitude.”
-Debbie Raphael, Director of the San Francisco Dept. of the Environment
100% of LightHawk’s funding comes from generous people and supportive foundations. Our work doesn’t happen without your help.
Giving makes people happy – Giving to charity is a critical component in improving your happiness and well being. Numerous studies have shown that spending money to help others has positive psychological effects. In fact, a study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found that “spending money on others promotes happiness more than spending money on oneself.” You can’t buy happiness, but you can increase it by spending your money right.
Conservation change takes a long time – often years. Protecting land and water for people and nature takes a full understanding of the big picture. In some cases this means collecting scientific data or tracking change over time. In other cases it means showing people the true condition of the landscape so that they take a personal interest or capturing photos that inspire.
LightHawk provides the big picture view which informs and inspires the conservation of land, rivers, coastlines, and wildlife across the continent.
Your gift makes flight possible for scientists, decision-makers, community leaders, journalists, and photographers to see the Earth in a new way, and when they return to the ground, our passengers apply what they’ve learned from the aerial view to effective on-the-ground solutions.
Your gift goes even farther because of the generous donation of flight by LightHawk’s talented and dedicated volunteer pilots.
Thank you for making it possible for conservation to take flight. Your support makes all the difference!
What do people have to say?
Here’s what some of our recent passengers have to say about how LightHawk transforms their work.
“LightHawk flights help put what we do in context. When you’re working on a restoration project, you go to one little spot and you don’t see how that area fits with the rest of the wetland. With the aerial perspective, you see the whole picture.” Jeff Benoit, Executive Director, Restore America’s Estuaries
“We covered so much ground in so little time, that there is no way we would have been able to see so much…and capture so much video and images without LightHawk’s support. Thank you LightHawk, you are a tremendous asset to the conservation community!” Dr. Rachel Graham, Conservation Scientist, Wildlife Conservation Society
“As a community based conservation organization in Belize, we struggle to find the resources to manage the marine protected area and natural resources entrusted to us. The partnership with LightHawk gives us the opportunity to advance our knowledge of one of the most important and endangered inhabitants of the sanctuary – the West Indian manatee. Without LightHawk as a partner, we would not be able to achieve this. LightHawk provides an excellent service, with enthusiastic pilots willing to make the extra effort to ensure the aerial surveys are as effective as possible so that we have the information needed to conserve endangered species.” Zoe Walker, Wildtracks
“This work could not have been accomplished without a staggering expenditure of time and effort on the ground. LightHawk flights enable me to complete in a morning what would take days of driving.” Michael Downey, Montana Land Reliance
“From the air, it all starts to make sense. Parcels of seemingly fragmented land miraculously stitch together. With the help of LightHawk, we are able to see the Colorado River Delta as a whole. While our projects cover many parts of this region, it is from the air that their connections are truly understood.” Francisco Zamora Arroyo, Director of Sonoran Institute’s Gulf Legacy Program
