FAIRMONT, W.Va. – A Fairmont native is holding a fundraiser to support wildlife reserves in the rainforest. 

Emma Freeman is a student at Liberty in Virginia. She recently traveled to Ecuador for a trip that inspired her to team up with the “Save the Choco” organization.  

“This organization buys land in the rainforest to turn it into wildlife preserves,” Freeman said. “So, it was kind of something that really caught my attention and I kind of developed a passion for it… Only 19% of the Choco Rainforest is left.” 

The fundraiser is a designer purse bingo. It will take place Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus in Fairmont.  

“A lot of people think that they can’t do anything, especially if they’re not from here, but everyone can do something and it’s important because if every realizes that they can even do something small then we’d be a lot better off,” Freeman said. “That’s kind of what inspired me, and I just really fell in love with Ecuador.”  

Freemans’s goal is to raise $5,000 for the “Save the Choco” organization. 

While in Ecuador Freeman also studied a disease called chytridiomycosis in amphibians in the Choco rainforest. Freeman said it’s a microscopic fungus that infect amphibians everywhere but especially in the tropical climates, like Ecuador. They took swabs from amphibians and took them back with them to test them in a laboratory and are working to figure out more about the disease.