Committee of the Islands, Lee BOCC support SCCF’s Bailey Family Homestead campaign
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) received tremendous civic support last week for its efforts to acquire the 28-acre Bailey Family Homestead.
On Jan. 11, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) presented SCCF a ceremonial proclamation in support of the land acquisition campaign.
Reading from the proclamation, District 1 Commissioner John Manning concluded, “Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Lee County, Florida, on behalf of the citizens of Lee County, that we do hereby support and encourage SCCF’s efforts to acquire and preserve the Bailey Family Homestead.
That good news was followed the next day by the presentation of a $1,000 campaign contribution from the Committee of the Islands. Committee of the Islands president Barbara Joy Cooley presented the gift to Paul Roth, president of SCCF.
This donation will qualify under the terms of a challenge grant from the Shipley Foundation to draw matching funds from that organization. After an earlier contribution of $500,000 to the $5.3 million Honoring The Past — Protecting The Future campaign, Richard Shipley announced in December that he would match gifts received by March 31 up to a cumulative total of an additional $500,000.
“All 10 members of the Committee of the Islands Board of Directors will be making additional contributions as individuals,” Cooley said, “to qualify for the matching funds under the Shipley Challenge.
“These are challenging times for fundraising and, from the beginning, we thought long and hard about the project and the feasibility of raising $5.3 million,” said Erick Lindblad. “We are deeply gratified by how the community has been stepping up to support this campaign.”
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation is dedicated to the conservation of coastal habitats and aquatic resources on Sanibel and Captiva and in the surrounding watershed through environmental education, land acquisition, landscaping for wildlife, marine research, natural resource policy, sea turtle conservation and wildlife habitat management.
Tax-deductible contributions to the campaign can be made online at www.sccf.org or by calling Erick Lindblad at 427-2329 or Cheryl Giattini at 395-2768.