Island organizations receive LCEC Environmental Funding Awards
The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation were among four recipients that received LCEC’s Environmental Funding Awards this year.
CROW received $4,000 and SCCF was granted $3,000 for their projects and programs related to the environment.
“LCEC has helped CROW before. It’s a wonderful opportunity,” CROW Development Director Mary Schoeffel said.
The funds will go towards five areas, all to better spread the message and share what the clinic has to offer for the community, both wildlife and humans. Those five areas include providing information on the new live animal exhibits that were added to the Visitor Education Center this year; information about public opportunities to learn about CROW through its wildlife walks; general information, as well as its outreach programming that has no geographical restriction and informational thank you notes for drop-off sites.
Schoeffel said it is important to refresh and update their printed material to provide more targeted messages about CROW’s programs and live exhibits, which will also be used for their outreach programs at events and schools.
“We want to let people know about the exhibits and wildlife walks,” Schoeffel said, adding that the wildlife walks, offered every day during season, continue to attract more individuals. “When people pay attention to wildlife it helps raise awareness.”
The informational thank you notes at the wildlife drop off locations, Schoeffel hopes will encourage follow-up phone calls on how the patient is doing. The note, which is a gift for those dropping off the injured, or sick wildlife, will have such information as CROW’s email and phone number, as well as space to include the date the animal was dropped off and the patient’s number.
She said CROW, if possible, will release the animal back into the wild where it was found.
“The clinics (drop off locations) are busy with their tasks. We are giving them a tool to share with the public to continue to give that connection,” Schoeffel said.
SCCF Education Director Kristie Anders said they have been very fortunate in the past few years to be granted funds from LCEC.
“We have been able to put out public information about gopher tortoises and sea turtles,” she said, adding that last year the funds were used for a traveling exhibit.
The traveling exhibit includes banners that highlights such topics as shore birds, turtles, habitat restoration, education and policy. The great thing about the diverse banners, depending on the expertise of the person and what meeting they are attending, is they can be mixed and matched.
“It gives us a chance to make ourselves shine at events,” Anders said about the banners that bare the LCEC logos. “They are highly portable.”
With this year being SCCF’s 50th anniversary, the Environmental Funding Award was used for a special calendar, which will highlight its 50 years, some history and the organization’s special events.
“We have a whole calendar of things going on through the year,” Anders said of such events as an open house, movie at the Bailey Homestead Preserve and special education programs. “It is time to celebrate. Fifty years is long time to serve the island.”
Due to the LCEC award, the calendars are free of charge for those who wish to stop by SCCF, or attend the Luminary Festival this December.
“That’s what’s wonderful. (LCEC is) willing to pay for them, so we can give them out to people,” Anders said. “We are trying to have them out by the 31st of October, or the first, or second week of November.”
The calendar will be graced with a collection of SCCF’s “beautiful pictures of wildlife and scenery.”
“We picked some of our favorite pictures,” she said. “Otters running down the boardwalk and other wildlife around the area.”
Another favorite part of the calendar, Anders said are some of the special events that have taken place over the years with LCEC. In 2012, she said LCEC brought their equipment to the island to help replace an eagle’s nest.
By lifting a bucket into the air, LCEC helped in resolving the logistics of erecting an eagle platform on a pole, which they supplied, in a moist field.
“LCEC has a wonderful community program within (their) community education program,” Anders said.
She said LCEC will help put a pole in the air in an individual’s backyard, if they so desire, for an osprey nest because of the equipment they have.
“It is a marvelous program,” Anders said, adding that the osprey program, as well as the eagle’s nest, will be highlighted in the calendar. “It will tell the success of the eagle platform and how much LCEC has helped osprey and birds all over their service area. The win is for the wildlife. It is great that a power company is dedicating some of their resources and work crews to help that go on.”
Applications are already being accepted for the 2017 LCEC Environmental Award. Organizations can email pr@lcec.net to receive an application, which has a deadline of March 15, 2017. In order to qualify, organizations must be located within the LCEC service territory, have projects/programs related to the environment and utility industry, as well as demonstrate a need for the funds.