During the fall of 2021, the company I worked for decided to start a charitable fundraising event for animals. As you might expect, all the attention went toward cat and dog shelters, but the first thing I thought of were black-footed ferrets.

Black-footed ferrets are my favorite endangered species mainly because they're related to my favorite domestic pets. I began to wonder about other endangered species: how many species were endangered, how their numbers got so low, and what I could do to help them. Black-footed ferrets have been successfully bred in captivity in many states in the US, and research shows those released into the wild are successfully breeding there as well. But how could I help other species?

The idea for One World Plush was born. If I could make stuffed animals of these species, people who loved them or wanted to learn more about them could purchase from me, and I'd be able to donate my proceeds to a conservation-focused charity.

I didn't want to buy new materials to make these stuffed animals. I thought it would be rather heartless if I were contributing to their habitat's demise, and fleece is essentially polyester, which is plastic. I decided to only use secondhand materials to make the endangered species stuffed animals.

Thrift shops often dispose of what doesn't sell, so I find stuffing from pillows and fleece from secondhand jackets and hoodies, preventing these items from ending up in a landfill and reducing the carbon footprint of my shop by not purchasing new materials.

Each fiscal quarter, I will make a donation of 50% of my profits to Wolrd Wildlife Fund and share it on social media. Please follow my Instagram account for donation updates.