IN association with the inaugural Moonbird Festival in April, King Island Landcare Group ran various fundraising activities which included raffles and auctions to support vital conservation and environmental work on King Island.
An online raffle of The Hemisphere Travellers, a signed limited-edition framed print, was donated by international award-winning wildlife artist, Katherine Cooper who lived on King Island for many years.
Landcare has received the following letter from the raffle winner Chris Hill.
“Just a quick note to send my thanks to Landcare for the painting that arrived today – it looks amazing.
“I feel very lucky for a number of reasons, not least I was slightly fortuitous in hearing about the raffle via a Birding Australia email. It grabbed my interest, partly due to the amazing prize on offer but we had recently returned from a holiday to New Zealand where we had witnessed and appreciated some of the restoration work they had undertaken on their offshore islands.
“The opportunity to support something closer to home was too hard to resist as these areas need to be preserved and cherished. The painting also struck a chord due to its similarity to some of the images that stick in my mind from that trip.
“Thank you once again for this amazing prize but most importantly for all the hard work you all do to preserve your wonderful island. Please pass my deepest thanks on to Kathy too for her generosity and the opportunity to own such an amazing piece.
“I look forward to visiting King Island at some point in the future but until then, I will be supporting you from afar.
“Best wishes, Chris.”