Association News

(see the Calendar for all current activities and events)

Endowment Fund Established

The St. Marks Refuge Association has established an endowment fund. This is a permanent fund that will provide a source of revenue for generations to come. Its purpose is to receive gifts and bequests which will be invested to produce stable income to fulfill the mission of the Association. It is a component fund of the Community Foundation of North Florida (CFNF) and is professionally managed to ensure the funds remain strong over time.

Anyone can contribute to the endowment fund in any amount or at any time. Gifts may be made in the form of cash, check, credit card, appreciated stock, real estate, retirement plan benefits, charitable trusts, annuities, life insurance or bequest under a will. Read more information here. The Community Foundation of North Florida provides professional gift planning assistance to our prospective donors and facilitates immediate and deferred gifts of all types. The Community Foundation of North Florida can be contacted at info@cfnf.org

Your gift to the St. Marks Refuge Association Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation of North Florida will help support the Refuge and create a lasting legacy for this magnificent place we all love.

History and Culture Signs Project

Did you know that St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge contains a rich history that dates from the prehistoric and includes seineyards, wars, Spanish explorers, powerful storms, three lighthouses and even a ghost town? The Association has completed the installation of six history and culture kiosks. Visitors can learn the rich history of the Refuge through the kiosks set up at significant points. In addition to viewing the images and text, brochures are available at each kiosk that contain additional information. Visit the History Page for more information.

Many thanks to all the volunteers that helped with this project and to the the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the $15,000 grant.

A fund to support the Historical Sign project has been set up in Loren Curro's memory. Donations can be sent to:

St. Marks Refuge Association, Inc.
PO Box 368
St. Marks, FL 32355

and indicate that it is for the Loren Curro Fund.

You search or shop...SMRA earns!

What if St. Marks Refuge Association earned a donation every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including B & H Photo, Amazon, target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting your favorite cause.

Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter St. Marks Refuge Association as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

Partnerships Create Home for Refuge Bats

For years, colony-forming bats of St Vincent National Wildlife Refuge have dwelled in the attic of the old hunting cabin, a wooden lodging structure located on the barrier island near Apalachicola, Florida. Their twilight departure patterns the air and guano droppings on the porch provide a distinctive fragrance. A renovation of the historic cabin has been completed, which displaced the wintering occupants, a colony of Brazilian free tail bats. To resolve this problem, Joe Reinman, Wildlife Biologist at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge encouraged them to investigate building a community bat house on St. Vincent Island. [Read more]