Friends of Fakahatchee: Dedicated to financial and volunteer support to preserve the unique ecology and cultural heritage of Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and educate the public about its importance.
Support the Friends of Fakahatchee
Your financial support is critical to protect the natural resources of the Fakahatchee Preserve and improve visitors experience. With your support we have been able to buy equipment and supplies to repair the boardwalk, fund prescribed burns, install five wayfinding kiosks, completely renovate the visitor center at the main entrance of the park, build a pole barn to shelter park vehicles, engage architects for the Boardwalk expansion project, fund the purchase of a vehicle and tram to provide educational tours about the Fakahatchee Preserve and it’s importance in the Western Everglades ecosystem. We are successful because of your support and generosity!
We invite you to join the Friends of Fakahatchee as a valuable member. We welcome your donations and are grateful for your generosity and support.
Why wait? Donate on-line now! Or mail your check, payable to FOF, to Friends of Fakahatchee, P.O. Box 35, Everglades City FL 34139.
Planned Giving
Friends of Fakahatchee (FOF) welcomes the opportunity to work with donors and their advisors for planned giving objectives, FOF is grateful for gifts of publicly trades securities; Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD’s) from Individual Retirement Accounts; testamentary bequests from the estate plans of our supporters.
Friends of the Fakahatchee maintains a brokerage account for the primary purpose of receiving gifts of publicly traded securities including mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF’s). Until such time as Friends of Fakahatchee has and maintains a managed portfolio of securities as a permanent endowment, gifts of securities will be sold upon receipt with the proceeds reinvested in cash equivalent funds.
To learn more about support for the Fakahatchee through planned giving, please call the Friends at 239-695-1023.
From the President: Annual Fund Drive
Dear Friends of Fakahatchee,
You are part of a community that supports the preservation of one of the most biologically rich places in North America, the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park.
The Fakahatchee Strand is the largest strand swamp in the world and a unique geological feature of the larger Big Cypress Swamp ecosystem. One of our chief goals, along with the State of Florida, is the safeguarding of its critical wetlands, rivers, lakes, mangroves, sloughs, and marshes. As well as protecting crucial habitat for wildlife and over 400 plant species.
The Fakahatchee is also part of the growing Florida Wildlife Corridor network of nearly 18 million acres of connected lands and waters. A corridor created for the protection of wildlife, benefits the ecosystem and
therefor people.
In the past five years, with your support, we succeeded to fund big projects for the Preserve; the installation of five wayfinding kiosks, the construction of a pole barn and recently completed the renovation of the Visitor Center.
Another impressive success, thanks to our dedicated volunteers, is the 10 th year anniversary of the Friends tour program. This program fulfills our mission to educate the public about the importance of the Fakahatchee within the Everglades ecosystem and is an important source of revenue to support the park.
After ten years, the time has come to invest in the success of the tour program by replacing the Friends ten-year-old truck. Therefore this year, with your help, the annual fundraiser will serve to get a newer vehicle to pull the tram.
For questions, please contact our Executive Director Francine Stevens, at 239-695-1023 or e-mail us at
FOF_90@hotmail.com.
Sincerely,
Glen Stacell
President
Friends of Fakahatchee
P.S. We remind you to explore your options with an attorney, financial advisor, or estate planner for the types of gifts that may have tax benefits for you all while supporting FOF’s mission: stock and bond gifts, IRA distribution gifts, donor advised fund gifts, insurance gifts, charitable remainder trust gifts, and legacy gifts.
Donate to the Annual Fund
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR THE FRIENDS OF FAKAHATCHEE, A FLORIDA-BASED NONPROFIT CORPORATION (REGISTRATION NO. CH9223), MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE OR VISITING THEIR WEBSITE HERE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.