CherCares is the culmination of the artist’s life-long commitment to help improve the quality of life for those in need.
CherCares initiative Free The Wild endeavors to stop the suffering of wild animals in captivity and ultimately find a way to release them into sanctuaries or better-equipped zoos.
Founded by Cher and Mark and Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, Free The Wild works with governments, partnering NGOs and the public. The charity identifies cases where zoos, circuses and private owners can no longer support their animals.
Free The Wild has many critically important projects currently underway. To succeed, they need both corporate and public support and regular donations. Seven lions and a tiger are on death row in Ukraine with their dilapidated zoo homes on the brink of collapse. Lucy the Elephant in Edmonton Valley Zoo has spent four decades breathing the icy Canadian air and most of that time, completely alone. Bua Noi sits in a glass box on the roof of a city mall with nothing but a TV to keep her company, along with dozens of other primates, small mammals, birds and reptiles. A politically-sensitive case in South-East Asia involves many distressed elephants that urgently need food, water and a long-term home.
Free The Wild’s top priority is improving these animals’ lives and saving them from the brink of death. The support you can give will make a difference.
Additional CherCares initiatives include the Pandemic Resource and Response Fund, which in 2020 focused on providing COVID-19 supplies and support to medical staff and communities struggling with poverty and other adversities long before the pandemic occurred. Donations were geared toward people in rural and urban communities who had minimal access to physical protection and medical care.