IMPACT 100, a Pensacola Bay Area women’s philanthropic organization, awarded grants totaling $1.12 million dollars to 11 nonprofit groups this month, including a Bream Fishermen Association (BFA) and PYC Satori Foundation collaborative project.
Established in 1970, BFA is dedicated to promoting environmental conservation and recreational opportunities in the Florida Panhandle with programs that improve the quality of our environment, protect, monitor, and maintain our rivers and wetlands, advance the causes of wildland and wildlife preservation, and provide environmental outreach/education.
The Sartori Foundation was established to inspire an interest in boating and maritime-related activities with educational and training programs for sailing, seamanship, and marine education.
BFA and Sartori will share the $101,820 grant in the “Environment, Recreation, and Preservation” category for their two-county project titled “Bringing the Coast to the Kids – Improving our waterways through science and recreation.”
This collaboration will combine their missions to produce a threefold impact on our community through a three-pronged approach:
BFA will utilize a new vehicle, with a built-in mobile water quality lab, to transport students and volunteers and to more efficiently sample waters in local creeks and streams. The data compiled will assist BFA in expanding awareness about the health of our waterways.
Satori will expand its mission to include environmental hands-on lessons, utilizing a new pontoon boat to accommodate larger groups including BFA’s students and volunteers for ecological, habitat and water-quality sampling.
Additionally, BFA and Satori will join together to visit elementary schools in the two-county area and bring virtual reality (VR) headsets for students to experience things like sailing a boat, snorkeling a coral reef, and swimming with marine life. These efforts coupled with upland and inland waterway sample excursions will demonstrate the importance of protecting our waterways for the future.
The goal of these combined projects is to engage awareness, invite active participation, and help connect the dots for the next generation. “We anticipate these steps will encourage understanding, ownership, and responsibility while also providing the necessary tools to preserve, protect, and foster future stewards of our remaining natural resources.” said Barbara Albrecht, BFA President.
Through recreational, hands-on, virtual, and in-situ methods, children will learn about their wet backyards. “Many children in local suburban and rural areas have never been to the beach or seen a bay. VR will bring the coast to the kids and accommodate disadvantaged or challenged groups by providing ecosystem tours,” said Sandy Dimick, Satori Foundation Executive Director, “The basic premise is to take kids from the country and connect them to the coast, first virtually, then in-person.”
To quote Jack Ma Yun, businessman, investor, and philanthropist, “Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.”
Contact Information:
Barbara Albrecht, President
Bream Fishermen Association, Inc.
PanhandleWatershed@gmail.com
Sandy Dimick, Executive Director
PYC Satori Foundation, Inc.
sncyb@aol.com