Allendale September 14, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 Girls use sale as opportunity to aid endangered animals At left: The group of young fundraisers. At right: One of their displays. by John Koster Caroline Martin of Allendale and her friends from town are planning a special Garage Sale fundraiser in conjunction with the Town-Wide Garage Sale set for Sept. 17. The girls will be raising money to rescue endangered wildlife. “This is so sweet,” said Caroline’s mother, Kim Martin. “She’s been interested in animals since she was three years old. She’s a vegetarian now, and she and her friends put this whole thing together on their own.” Kim Martin said that Mrs. Arlene French, a teacher at Allendale’s Hillside School, is considered a sort of honorary member of the club. “She turned the kids on to animals when they were at Hillside School and got them started, and she comes to meetings once in awhile.” The girls in the club also include Elizabeth Peebles, Athena Karvellas, Erin Quinn, Olivia Homan, Anna Walsh, Megan White, Melissa Walters, Claudia Mischler, Lauren Bernstein, and Julia Davis. “Last year, I started a club called Save the Jaguar at my house with 10 other girls from Allendale,” Caroline, now a fifth grader at Allendale’s Brookside School, explained. “We meet at my house and we choose animals that need help on the World Wildlife Fund website and try to adopt as many animals as we can. We choose an animal and then work and do chores to save $50 to $200 to adopt an animal. Our first animal was the jaguar, but then we went on to an octopus, polar bear, and tiger, and we are working on a chimpanzee. So far, we have adopted five animals. At our last meeting, we decided to do a fundraiser so we can try to earn more money and decided to do a Garage Sale.” Recently, the girls offered a plush toy tiger as a prize as they raised money to rescue a real tiger. The sale to help rescue wild animals will operate on the same schedule as the borough-wide event. “My Garage Sale is different because it is only kids running it and we are giving all of our money to the World Wildlife Federation,” Caroline added. “We are going to put a sign on my lawn to let the people know that all the money is for the endangered animals and have information about our club on an information sheet.” The house is located at 200 Brookside Avenue. Allendale students have long been fond of endangered animals. Luke the Turkey, the lone survivor of a group of turkeys that had been living at the Celery Farm Natural Area, became an avian celebrity when he took to patrolling a small vacant lot between the Brookside School and the municipal complex on West Crescent Avenue. A police officer and patrol car were briefly posted to make sure that the fearless turkey didn’t peck any pedestrians or get run over my motorists. The large wild bird was eventually collared and dropped off in western New Jersey. However, some local residents believe Luke is one of the turkeys at the James A. McFaul Wildlife Center in nearby Wyckoff, and Caroline and her friends sometimes visit there to stay in touch with the Brookside School’s unofficial mascot.