Who Helps CIR When We Donate Our Time?

Who helps fund the un-fundable restoration projects, the orphan projects and the important environmental and education work even when limited and short-term grant funding runs out?  There is rarely enough funding to keep the mustard from sprouting, to hold back the cape ivy, to protect rare plants and animals or to take kids to the islands.  Channel Islands Restoration relies on our friends, supporters and members to fund these important needs when grants are unavailable or run out.

CIR volunteers and staff remove invasive Sahara mustard
 on San Nicolas Island.  CIR donated staff time for many years 

to remove the mustard, long before the Navy
had funding for the project.

Even when restoration funding is available for a project, it is often designed to last only a year.  Habitat restoration is seldom completed on that kind of time scale, so CIR often donates the time of our restoration staff, our Volunteer Coordinator, and our Executive Director when initial funding runs out.  Throughout our history, CIR has also helped kick-off worthy environmental restoration and educational projects by volunteering our services, even when funding was unavailable to cover our costs.  

Long before there was funding to pull the invasive Sahara Mustard on San Nicolas Island, CIR staff organized trips there to remove the mustard where it was threatening rare plants.  On San Clemente Island, CIR has donated considerable staff time to remove iceplant from sensitive dune habitat, when funding for restoration projects on the island was used mostly for other priorities.   CIR continues to donate time to organize restoration work on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands and at various locations on the mainland. 

CIR’s school program for next year is supported 

chiefly by individual donors, members and 

small-sized service groups.  

Donating time and services is what being a non-profit organization is all about, and it sets us apart from the for-profit corporate world.  Contributions from individual donors and members make pro bono work possible, and we rely on the public to help support this kind of work.  As an example, our school program for next year is supported chiefly by individual donors, members and small-sized service groups.  

CIR staff and our volunteer Board of Directors are highly committed to our mission, but our work would not happen without the support of our members.  When you consider giving to a cause or charity as we approach the end of the year, please remember how much CIR relies on you.  Your contributions make it possible for us to do the important work of restoring precious habitat and instilling the values of environmental conservation in young people and others.  We can only be successful with the help of people like you!

CIR volunteers and staff remove iceplant on San Clemente Island.
 CIR donated staff time for many years to remove the iceplant.