Members Project: This Week, Vote for Polar Bears!

Vote for Defenders of Wildlife to win $200,000 and help save polar bears!

Thanks to everyone who has been voting for Defenders of Wildlife each week to help us try to win $200,000 in funding from Members Project from American Express. You can vote once a week through February 20, 2011 and this week you’re voting for polar bears!

Polar bears could be extinct in America by 2050… or, these mighty Arctic hunters could survive. It’s up to us.

Scientists say that a combination of climate change, habitat loss and other human-caused perils are pushing these beloved bears toward extinction in the wild… but new studies say that if we act now they have a real chance at survival.

Help us secure the funds we need to save polar bears. Please vote today!

Did You Know…? Polar bears are so adapted to living on ice that don’t need to drink water: they get the liquid they need from the prey they eat.

Vote for Defenders today to help save polar bears!

Two hundred thousand dollars can do a lot of good for polar bears and other wildlife.

It can help us stop harmful drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—the most important onshore denning habitat for America’s polar bears. It can help us stop a disastrous oil spill in Chukchi and Beaufort Seas—sometimes called the Polar Bear Seas because of their importance to these beleaguered sea bears. It can help us assist Arctic villages learn “Bear Smart” techniques for keeping polar bears alive, instead of shooting them.

How to Vote for Defenders

The current round of voting runs through midnight on Sunday, February 20, 2011. You can vote once a week throughout the voting period. Here’s how to get started:

1. Go to the Defenders Members Project page at www.defenders.org/membersproject.

   

2. Scroll down to the Vote section in the lower left corner of the page. The Members Project is a partnership between American Express and TakePart, so you need to be a member of TakePart to vote. First, click the Sign Up And Vote button. NOTE: If you’re already registered and logged in with TakePart, the button will say Vote For This Charity and clicking it will take you to the final step below.

   

3. Click the Register to Vote button.

   

4. A form will pop up. Fill out all the required fields and make sure you check the boxes to accept the terms for both TakePart and Members Project. NOTE: You can use your full name as your username, including a space, if you want.

   

5. Once you’re registered, scroll down the page and click the Defenders logo. A little box will pop up.

   

6. Click the Vote button in the popup. You’ll be prompted to confirm your choice.

   

That’s it! Thanks for voting for Defenders of Wildlife!

Thanks to the dedicated support of caring wildlife champions like you, Defenders is currently leading the pack in the Environment and Wildlife category, with 80% of the votes. But with more than two months left to go in this round, we need to make sure we stay in the lead! Remember, you can vote once a week until February 20th!