THEY WON BOTH AWARDS!!
Daniel (16) and William (14) Clarke have been on a mission for over five years to save the orangutan species, which is in grave danger of extinction due to habitat loss, despite Daniel having Cerebral Palsy and being mostly confined to a wheelchair. Together, the boys have raised over $650,000, self-published their own book, Tears in the Jungle, and are on their way to achieving their goal of raising $1 million.
The Sydney brothers were awarded not one, but two awards at the National Pride of Australia medal ceremony held in Sydney tonight. The pair took out both the Pride of Australia Medal (Environment Category) and the People’s Choice Award for their inspirational quest to save critically endangered orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra.
As voted by the Australian public, the boys also won the People’s Choice Award, receiving $10,000 to go towards their favourite charity. It was a no brainer for the boys to nominate The Orangutan Project Safeguard Program as their charity of choice!
“Being recognised for our efforts to help save the orangutans of Borneo and Sumatra is a huge honour and we are overwhelmed by the support from everyone around Australia. We are thrilled that the $10,000 is going to protect 33,000 acres of orangutan habitat,” said Daniel Clarke.
The Orangutan Project Safeguard Program funds Wildlife Protection Units and Wardens – frontline forest patrols that help deter illegal logging, land clearing and wildlife crimes that are destroying the rainforest and endangering many wildlife species, particularly the orangutans.
Daniel and William’s generous donation will go towards protecting approximately 33,000 acres of prime orangutan habitat in Borneo and Sumatra, and will support further Wildlife Protection Units to operate in these areas.
“It is amazing to see what we have achieved since the start of our quest and the support that we have gained along the way. . Our Goal is to inspire kids all over the world to find and follow their passion in life whatever that may be. We can all make our world a better place.,” says William Clarke.
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Congratulations to you both!! You are such amazing ambassadors and hopefully you’ll inspire other young people to make a stand and change the world.
Well done to you both, amazing achievement!!
And keep up the great work…xx
I was so pleased to hear that you won two awards. Well deserved! You are both an inspiration.You saw a problem and you took on the challenge…. you can change the world. Well done.
You two are so remarkable well done you are on many of our facebook sites here in Tasmania.
Well done boys you are an inspiration to us all.