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Members of the popular Reddit group that triggered the massive increase in GameStop shares are using their newfound money for a good cause.
In a post sent over the weekend on the subreddit, WallStreetBets, a Reddit user Pakistani_in_Murica said he used the extra money he made from GameStop investments (read more about it here) to benefit the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.
According to the organization’s website, they help protect two endangered gorilla species located in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda and Congo.
With a donation to the fund, anyone who wants to help in their efforts can symbolically adopt a gorilla. Pakistani_in_Murica said he “adopted” a wild gorilla named Urungano, who was born in June 2017.
The donation announcement attracted incredible attention on the subreddit, winning more than 112,000 positive votes on Monday afternoon and hundreds of prizes (which users need to buy with real money to distribute).
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But most importantly, it seemed that the post inspired other members of WallStreetBets to donate to the fund.
Tara Stoinski, the fund’s president and CEO, even recorded a message addressed to the subreddit to thank them for their donations.
“I just heard that you have been adopting gorillas through our website,” said Stoinski in the video. “I wanted to say thank you very much for this incredible support … it will help a lot in our important mission.”
According Newsweek, a spokesman for the organization said they received more than $ 265,000 in donations over the weekend.
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On Monday, the Fossey Fund posted a series of tweets highlighting and thanking the Reddit community for their fundraising efforts.
“It is safe to say that the #investor community on @reddit is not traditionally the one we consider our base of supporters,” they wrote. “But they definitely surprised us and impressed us over the weekend.”
“It turns out that gorillas are a great #investment! Gorillas live in the Congo Basin, the second largest rainforest in the world and a natural defense against #climatechange,” they added. “When we save gorillas, we save the planet. How’s that for #ROI?”