This winter, we are raising funds to help support wildlife conservation efforts in the Peruvian Amazon by providing motorcycles to local park rangers.

In May 2022, the nonprofit organization Rally for Rangers (RfR) will lead its first ever expedition across Peru - from Lima to the Amazon - to donate motorcycles to Peruvian park rangers. The rangers will use these bikes for their ongoing wildlife conservation efforts.

RfR has selected Kirsten Midura and Susan Seo as two of a small group of riders who will hand-deliver these motorcycles to park rangers. Kirsten is the Founder of Engines for Change. She is an environmentalist, women’s empowerment advocate, motorcyclist, and RfR’s newest Advisory Board Member. Susan is a corporate attorney that also volunteers with a track day organization to help street riders improve their skills, and volunteers with an animal rescue organization. They have arranged to donate their motorcycles to female park rangers through RfR’s partner organization, the Peruvian Service for Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP).

Kirsten and Susan are raising $30,000 to support this expedition. $22,000 will go toward purchasing the motorcycle and covering in-country costs of the expedition. $2,500 will go toward travel expenses such as the flight, trip insurance, carbon offsets, and other costs. The remainder will be used to establish a rotating fund, which will help support female motorcyclists to partake in future RfR expeditions around the world.

Donations made through this platform are tax deductible, thanks to the support of our fiscal sponsor, the Global Grid Project (GGP). More information on GGP can be found below. A full sponsorship deck can be provided upon request by emailing enginesforchange[at]gmail.com.

Thank you for supporting this important cause!

Information on Rally for Rangers

RfR’s mission is to protect the world’s special places by empowering rangers around the world with new motorcycles and equipment. The organization raises funds to purchase new motorbikes and gear for rangers, which they then use to patrol National Parks. Every year, Rally for Rangers (RfR) selects a small group of intrepid adventurers to ride to remote areas of the globe, hand-delivering new motorcycles to park rangers in Mongolia, Patagonia, and beyond. The rangers use these motorcycles to protect ecologically sensitive regions, tracking down illicit poaching, logging, and agricultural operations, and preserving native flora and fauna. Without these motorcycles, the rangers would have to work tirelessly on foot or on horseback to carry out their work. And without Rally for Rangers expeditions, the rangers may never receive these motorcycles at all.

Information on Engines for Change

Engines for Change (E4C) is a community-focused, volunteer-run organization that mobilizes motorcyclists to have a positive impact on the world. Since late 2019, E4C has worked with partner organizations and individuals to organize food drives, charity rides, distribution of essential goods to those in need, and other activations to support our local communities. E4C is also beginning to develop educational resources through media such as articles, videos, and documentary films, among others.

Information on Global Grid Project

All over the world, there is almost forgotten need for energy within developing countries. People continue to live in poverty due to the lack of energy. According to the non-profit, Practical Action, “over 1.6 billion people – almost one third of humanity – have no electricity. This means they have no light in the evening, limited access to radio and modern communications, inadequate education and health facilities, and not enough power for their work and businesses.” An addition 3 billion people depend on dirty, harmful solid fuels to meet their cooking needs.

Global Grid Project (GGP) is a 501(c)(3) that focuses on the remote areas of the world in which families still do not have access to reliable, clean energy. A simple clean stove can provide a family with improved health. A bulb in a house can allow children to study after they come home from school. The market of communities in need of energy is huge and usually hidden behind the need for water. GGP finds that the benefits of clean energy can provide equally important benefits as water.