The Marine Mammal Care Center of Los Angeles, which in January sent out a plea that the sea lion rehab facility faced a dire financial emergency, has raised more than the $1 million needed to keep the San Pedro center operating through July 2021.
To celebrate the hard-fought milestone, the center will host a live-stream Seal Day event from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 27, where online participants can pledge more funds to further help the center as it continues working to get back on an even financial keel.
“To be honest, it really came down to just a swell of community support,” said Amber Becerra, an attorney who has helped sort out the financial situation of the center, which opened in 1992 in Angel’s Gate Park in San Pedro.
The center received some larger donations — primarily $100,000 from LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office account — but most of the money came from smaller contributions, she said. Children organized neighborhood lemonade stands and others contributed with their own fundraisers.
“It just goes to show you what our local community can do,” Becerra said.
The center also received support from backers as far away as Germany, Canada and France, she said.
The center has been closed to the public since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. So the live-streamed Seal Day, usually held as an in-person open house, will offer folks the chance to sign on and watch seal feedings.
“We’ll have a live feed for a live feed,” Becerra said of the mealtime activity.
People can donate in real time by buying a fish from the center’s food supplies and then watching as a sea lion gobbles up that fish.
“We’re also going to have a tour of the facility with Dr. (Lauren) Palmer,” Becerra said of the center’s veterinarian, who “will give a rundown and let people have a peek at what the animals are doing.”
The center will remain closed to the public, Becerra said, until it can find a way to safely open amid the pandemic. But the facility has continually been taking in sick and injured animals. The center treats the sea lions and then releases them back into the ocean.
“We’re more on the side of caution in terms of our response (to reopening),” Becerra said. “I’d love to open tomorrow but the health and safety of our staff and volunteers comes first.”
The center has some 200 volunteers.
There remains work and fundraising to be done, Becerra added.
Still, the center has raised $1.2 million since January.
“Now we get to say we’re definitely not closing,” Becerra said. “We have a one-year buffer.”
A consultant has been hired to come in and do a full audit, she said. Once that report is issued, with recommendations, the center’s volunteer board of directors will develop a long-term plan and strategy for fundraising “so we’re not in a crisis every year,” Becerra said.
To join the live-streamed Seal Day, visit the center’s website: marinemammalcare.org.
"center" - Google News
June 26, 2020 at 05:52AM
https://ift.tt/2VmVWNX
Marine Mammal Care Center raises $1.2 million needed to carry on - The Daily Breeze
"center" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUHym8
https://ift.tt/2zR6ugj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Marine Mammal Care Center raises $1.2 million needed to carry on - The Daily Breeze"
Post a Comment