Archer Trading | Our Pledge
 The story: While living in Panama I was involved with and eventually managed an animal rescue. During that time I met the folks form Alouatta Lodge and was amazed at what they do on a daily basis, out of the goodness of their hearts, for animals in need. After meeting Steven, Michelle, Garreth, Rebecca and the monkeys it’s hard not to fall in love with their project and the sanctuary. In Panama there is very little protection of the natural wildlife and most of these monkeys wouldn't stand a chance in the wild after being captured and removed from their natural habitat as most are captured as babies to be sold as pets and never learn what it is to be a monkey. Monkeys do not make good pets. They’re wild animals. So when they start growing up and cease to be cute, cuddly and needy babies, they are usually discarded and wind up in a rescue, a zoo, or dead. Their only real option for survival at that point is to be in an enclosure where they can be protected. Enter Alouatta Lodge. Here the monkeys do not live in enclosures (unless they are just babies) and have the opportunity to interact with various troops of wild Howlers in the area. Masie, one of the first rescues there has bred with and interacts with the wild Howlers daily. Yahoo goes off for days and weeks at a time with the wild troops. They all return though, as they have a strong kinship with the people who rescued, rehabilitated them and let them be monkeys again. The whole family teaches them how to be wild monkeys and when the initial training is over, the wild Howlers take over. It’s an amazing transition to behold even for a guy like me who only caught glimpses of it over time. Howler monkeys are amazing animals. They’re extremely social, loving and playful. My God are they playful! Alouatta Lodge receives no funding for what they do. The entire project is self-funded. No one is made of money as we all know, and with better funding they can afford to do more for the local and endangered howler population who are hunted and captured. My pledge: I will donate 10% of all performance fees to Alouatta Lodge from this point forward until they tell me they can do no more with the money and tell me to stop sending it. My plea: I would encourage you to do the same. While it might not be 10% of your managed account earnings, 1% or $10 would be awesome. Of course you’re free to donate to them directly and I would encourage this as well. Trust me. It is a very worthwhile cause and if you ever find yourself in the Chiriqui province of Panama, I would urge you to stop by. It’s life-changing.
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