Nine-year-old donates $500 for Delaware River eagles

Boy and friends in environmental club went door-to-door LACKAWAXEN — The Eagle Institute is a grassroots volunteer organization that operates on a shoestring budget supported by grants and donations. It takes a lot of work to gather up $500 from the typical donations ranging from $10 to $30. So imagine their excitement when they recently received a $500 donation. And imagine their surprise to learn it came from a nine-year-old boy. Sam Walker lives in Connecticut and is a big fan of all wildlife. He is especially fond of bald eagles, particularly the ones he sees from his family’s weekend home in Barryville, N.Y. Sam wanted to do something to help protect bald eagles “because of its population drop caused by DDT and other chemicals,” he said. As President of the non-profit group Enviro-mento, which has been fundraising for good causes at his elementary school since kindergarten, Sam initiated and conducted a fundraising campaign to raise money to help the Eagle Institute with its work on the Upper Delaware River. He recruited some friends, went door-to-door and put up signs announcing his cause. “I picked the Eagle Institute because of the sightings we’ve had on our lake and because I’ve always admired what you’ve been doing,” Sam told the institute. On the Enviro-mento website, Sam posted: “The Eagle Institute is our favorite organization because they are friends, rescuers and educators that help the legendary Bald Eagle and other birds of prey…Earlier this year we raised $500 to help the endangered bald eagle. All in all they rock so don’t forget to go to www.eagleinstitute.org.” The funds were used this season to help offset the cost of purchasing new spotting scopes and binoculars, handwarmers and footwarmers for the Eagle Institute volunteers to use when collecting data and assisting visitors at the five public eagle viewing sites in the Upper Delaware watershed. The programs take place in winter, when 150-200 bald eagles migrate to this region. “Sam’s efforts are so appreciated by myself and the volunteers,” said Lori McKean, Eagle Institute director. “Our equipment gets pretty beat up out there and we really needed to replace some older pieces and increase the number of scopes we have out in the field. Plus the volunteers really appreciate the handwarmers and footwarmers that we provide.” Sam’s ambitions don’t stop at bald eagles. The Enviro-mento tagline is: “from bees to elephants big and small, we’ll be able to save them all!” And he just might. When he grows up, Sam would like to be a professor to educate the world on the importance of a healthy environment. “Also I might be a vet too,” he added. For more information about the Eagle Institute’s programs and how to support them, phone 570-685-5960 or 845-557-6162 or email them at eagleinstitute@yahoo.com .