By: Ciptanti Putri

Coinciding with its 53rd Anniversary, WWF-Indonesia inaugurated the new WWF Hub Surabaya office on Friday (11/9) last week. Following the theme "Wear It Wild", WWF-Indonesia fundraisers and stakeholders (malls, communities, schools) participated in a simple ceremony attended by WWF-Indonesia CEO, Dr. Efransjah, and WWF-Indonesia Marketing Director, Devy Suradji.

The WWF Hub Surabaya office, named "Omah Panda", is designed to be a hub office for fundraisers in Surabaya and surrounding areas, which is now recorded at 19 people, so that they can maximize their duties in carrying out the mission of conservation to the community. ""Fundraisers can be referred to as conservation warriors at the forefront. This means that all fundraisers must be able to deliver conservation messages from WWF-Indonesia in a fun, easy to understand, and trusted by all levels of society. That is why fundraisers are the spearhead in moving the wheels of the organization in achieving the great hopes of nature conservation in Indonesia," said Dr. Efransjah in his speech.

On this occasion, tumpeng was cut by Dr. Efransjah and handed over to representatives of partners who always help the tasks of the Surabaya fundraiser team, including WTC mall Surabaya, Grand City Surabaya, Gramedia Expo Surabaya, EH Surabaya, Zero Waste community, and KPL Surabaya community.

Omah Panda is not only the headquarters of WWF-Indonesia fundraisers in Surabaya, but also an educational space for the general public who want to learn about environmental science and conservation efforts undertaken by WWF-Indonesia. "This special space on the 1st floor of WWF-Indonesia Hub Surabaya office is translated as a form of WWF's responsibility to the community," explained Donny Prasmono, WWF-Indonesia Face-to-Face (F2F) Program Coordinator.

Prior to the Omah Panda inauguration ceremony, a F2F Training Leader training was held which was attended by fundraiser coordinators from Tangerang, Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. The training was given to add insight into leadership, as well as provide motivation to each participant to always be able to face all the challenges in the dynamics of fundraising activities. This activity also became a place to share information from each city about the most effective methods of recruiting supporters.