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Defenders’ Awards
Personal Donor Stories
We thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.
Bequest
Bob and Harriet Jakovina live in San Jose, California with their two Belgian sheepdogs Voodoo and Raven. Both retired teachers, Bob and Harriet have been married for 44 years and have supported Defenders of Wildlife since the early 1970s.
In addition to their philanthropic support, the Jakovinas had a hands-on role in restoring wolves to the greater Yellowstone area, one of Defenders’ greatest accomplishments. They recall camping in Yellowstone National Park when brochures were first being circulated seeking comments on wolf reintroduction to the Director of the Park Service. After completing their form at one campground, they were shocked to find the brochures were not available at another campground. In fact, the host responded: “The only thing to do with a wolf is to shoot, shovel and shut up.” Outraged, they traveled back to the previous campground, collected 100 or so forms and returned to hand them out to everyone at the new location.
Since those early days, the Jakovinas have participated in many Defenders of Wildlife programs and have had the chance to see wolves in the wild during one of their several trips to Yellowstone. As environmental scientists, both Bob and Harriet appreciate Defenders’ commitment to supporting keystone species like the wolf. According to Bob, “When you reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone, you are taking care of the Aspen trees, the trout, the elk and the whole ecosystem.”
When Bob and Harriet sat down to write their will, it was Defenders’ strong focus on endangered species that lead them to designate the organization to receive a percentage of their estate. Harriet says, “Our love of animals brought us together and it has been an important part of our lives. It’s good to know our bequest will help support wildlife for years to come.”
Charitable Gift Annuity
"My sister Delores and I had the good fortune to travel to Africa several years ago," says Defenders supporter Cecilia Giebutowski. "I was blown away by the wildlife. My sister had always been the animal lover in our family, but after that trip, I was hooked too. That’s when I began supporting Defenders of Wildlife."
Cecilia worked for Sears for 31 years. Now retired, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and tending her garden in Chicago. She stops to say good morning to the neighbor’s cats every day on her way to get the morning paper.
Cecilia has established several charitable gift annuities with Defenders. The regular income she receives from her annuities helps pay her ongoing living expenses. She says, “I worked hard over the years and saved carefully for my retirement. I don’t want the government to get those funds. I would rather give it to the animals. Somebody has to speak up for them.”
Celia doesn’t have any children and feels provisions have been made for her nieces and nephews. She says, “I give them a little money on their birthdays, but I know the best gift I can give them is to ensure that they, and their children, will have the chance to experience the wonders of wildlife for many years to come.”
Individual Retirement Account
If you went to visit Barbara in her home in Texas, you would notice that her walls are covered with cougars. “There’s just something about the cougar,” she says. “I fell in love with the unique black markings on their face.”
A generous Defenders of Wildlife donor since the late eighties, Barbara had the chance to sit on the floor and meet a wolf pup during a Defenders of Wildlife workshop. Seeing that beautiful animal up close helped convert Barbara from a cougar lover to a full-fledged lover of all wildlife.
After a successful career as an editor, Barbara retired early to devote more time to animals. “I wanted my life to count for something and I wanted to work directly with the animals,” she says. She is a devoted volunteer at the Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation where she helps nurse injured animals back to health.
More than 1,000 animals pass through the Center each month. Although they can’t save them all, Barbara says, “When you look in their eyes, you can tell they know we are doing the very best we can. That’s important.”
To ensure that someone will ‘speak up for wildlife’ long after she’s gone, Barbara has named Defenders of Wildlife as a beneficiary of her Individual Retirement Account. She says, “Defenders opened up my world to all of the wildlife on our planet. I know they love the animals as much as I do.”
But, what’s the biggest reason Barbara has included Defenders in her estate plans? “If I thought that there would be a time that there would not be a cougar on the earth, it would break my heart.”
Living Trust
Though her professional degrees are in education and cell biology, Defender’s legacy donor Bonnie Wild has found a way to work with animals for most of her life. “I wanted to be a veterinarian,” says Bonnie, “but in the late 1940s it was hard for women to get admitted, and priority was given to war vets.”
So Bonnie entered the University of Wisconsin as an education major, where she took an extra-credit job in the lab of primatologist Dr. Harry Harlow. When Harlow was asked by the San Diego Zoo to send someone to help with the care of three gorillas, he sent two men. But the gorillas—who had previously been cared for women—would not respond to them. “So Harlow sent me,” recalls Bonnie, “and eventually I was hired as a medical tech in the zoo hospital, where I cared for harbor seals, marmosets, even a kangaroo that needed dental surgery.”
Bonnie left the zoo in 1962, completed a master’s degree in cytology from Johns Hopkins University, and for the next 36 years helped run animal rescue operations in California, Idaho, and Wyoming. It was during the 1990s, while living in Buffalo, Wyoming, that Bonnie gained such affection and admiration for the wolves who regularly wandered onto her property.
“Wolves are such a vital part of our ecosystem,” says Bonnie, “and Defenders is just unwavering in their commitment to protecting them.” According to Bonnie, it’s this steadfast commitment that first drew her to become a Defender’s member, and later to include us in her trust.
Now living in Arizona, Bonnie is still working with animals. She is one of two regional rescue coordinators with the American Manchester Terrier Club—and she is still writing letters demanding better safeguards for wolves.
