Friends of Casco Bay Funds

Emeritus Fund for Advocacy

The Emeritus Fund supports Friends of Casco Bay’s advocacy and related staff development activities in our annual operating plans, including:

Photograph by Dennis Welsh

Efforts in our community to promote practices that are good for the health of the Bay and to discourage practices that are detrimental to the health of our waters
Sending staff to the annual international Waterkeeper Alliance conference, at which we learn cutting edge strategies other Waterkeepers are employing to protect their waters
Continuing advocacy work on nitrogen pollution, sewer overflows, and other threats to the health of the bay

The Emeritus Fund began as a way to honor Joe Payne, Friends of Casco Bay’s first Casco Baykeeper and the seventh Waterkeeper in the world. We continue to accept donations to the funds in order to strengthen our organization’s capacity in our advocacy work on behalf of Casco Bay.

You may make a secure online donation to the Emeritus Fund by credit card here.

or by sending a check [note Emeritus Fund in the memo] to:

Friends of Casco Bay
75 West Commercial Street, Suite 301
Portland, Maine 04101

You may also make a donation to the Emeritus Fund by calling our office: (207) 799-8574.

Baykeeper Boats Fund

Our Baykeeper Boats Fund was created to replace our Baykeeper vessel and establish a fund to support vessel operations. Thank you to all of our Baykeeper Boats Fund campaign donors we were able to buy and retrofit the Research Vessel Joseph E. Payne (pictured above) and helped us create a fund to maintain our small fleet. Our Baykeeper boat is essential to investigate pollution incidents, maintain visibility in the community, and conduct scientific studies and data collection. Our boat is one of our most important tools, plying our waters through all four seasons.

Make a Baykeeper Boats Fund Donation

As you may know, operating a marine vessel all year round can be expensive. Friends of Casco Bay depends upon ongoing support from our Baykeeper Boats Fund to maintain our fleet, including our Baykeeper boat, our pumpout vessel, and the smaller boats we use in our work to protect the health of our coastal waters.

You can make a secure online donation to the Baykeeper Boats Fund here.

You can also make a donation by sending us a check (address below) with “Baykeeper Boats Fund” in the memo or by calling our office and making a credit card gift over the phone [(207) 799-7574].

To make a gift of stock to the Baykeeper Boats Fund, contact Will Everitt, Executive Director via email [willeveritt [at] cascobay [dot] org] or by calling him directly: (207) 799-7574 ext. 204.

Baykeeping means being on the water

Our Baykeeper vessel R/V Joseph E. Payne provides a safe and reliable platform for investigating pollution incidents, maintaining visibility in the community, and conducting scientific studies and data collection year-round.

When concerned citizens call us about a fish kill or a nuisance algae bloom, we take to our boat to check oxygen levels in our waters. We use our Baykeeper boat to look for the source of illegal discharges and leaking pipes. Our boat gives us the opportunity to give stakeholders a water-level view of issues we feel merit public attention.

While our 28-foot Baykeeper vessel is our most visible boat, we maintain a small fleet of other boats to get us wherever we need to be on the Bay.

Baykeeper Endowment Fund

The Baykeeper Endowment Fund was created to provide a base of support to allow us to run our Baykeeping Program each year, into the future.

The Baykeeping Program has been a cornerstone of our success for more than two-and-a-half decades. Through the Baykeeping Program, we advocate for policies, laws, ordinances, and actions that help protect the health of our waters. Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca is our chief public advocate. While Ivy has the title of Casco Baykeeper, our staff, board, and volunteers all have roles in advocating for the health of the Bay through the Baykeeping program

Your generous donation to the Baykeeper Endowment Fund will support our Baykeeping Program both today and in years to come, continue important educational programs and support the protection of Casco Bay in ways that surpass what a single individual can do alone. To read more about our Baykeeping Program, click here.

You may make a secure online donation to the Baykeeper Endowment Fund by credit card here.

or by sending a check [note Baykeeper Endowment Fund in the memo] to:

Friends of Casco Bay
75 West Commercial Street, Suite 301
Portland, Maine 04101

To make a gift of stock restricted for the Baykeeper Endowment Fund, call Executive Director Will Everitt: (207) 799-8574.