September 22, 2022

FOE 2022 Midyear Update

In our second year of operation, Friends of Exuma (FOE) has been steadily growing to engage donors and serve the needs of the people and the environment of Exuma.

In our second year of operation, Friends of Exuma (FOE) has been steadily growing to engage donors and serve the needs of the people and the environment of Exuma. When the organization was founded in late 2020, we defined our areas of interest as Youth Development, Cultural Preservation & Celebration, Conservation & Sustainability, and Community Relief.

We are grateful to be able to play a role in supporting charities and initiatives that have made a difference in the community. Thank you to our donors who have provided funds to these worthy causes over the past two years.

The FOE board of directors meets quarterly for two hours and recently met on September 30th. We currently have six engaged board members and are seeking to grow to nine board members over the next 18 months.

Our main funds are defined as:

Community Fund: Used to provide an annual donation for the charitable initiatives that FOE supports. Also covers overhead (accounting, legal, marketing, bank fees).

Harbour Conservation and Preservation Fund: This is a supersized designated fund that gets its own headline to support Elizabeth Harbour Partnership, Moriah Harbour Cay National Park, and other environmental causes.

Designated Funds: Once FOE enrolls a charity or an initiative, a donor can request that the funds donated can go to a specific charity through FOE. For instance the Exuma Sailing Club, Elizabeth Harbour Partnership, etc. For any of the causes we support, donors can receive a US tax deduction and FOE takes no fees. FOE works with each charity or initiative recipient to ensure that money is used for the purposes intended.

Our Role:

Our role is to provide structure and credibility to the process of donating, so donors have confidence, and recipients have a better chance of success by following basic practices. FOE supports programs in Exuma but does not currently operate any programs or have any paid staff. We play the role of engaging donors and creating a platform for base support.

Programs and initiatives update:

Our list of programs and initiatives continues to grow. We now have a page for each organization we support on our website, which includes information on the fundraising goals of the organization and noteworthy news. In 2022, we added The Exuma Arts Network, The National Family Island Regatta, and the Skuller’s Rowing Club, and have provided initial funding to initiatives in Elizabeth Harbour and Moriah Harbour Cay National Park. In the past year, FOE partnered with the Exuma Foundation Canada on certain initiatives and we are looking forward to working cooperatively in the future. The Exuma Foundation Canada hosts two events that benefit local initiatives, the Run for Pompey and the Tour du Turquoise bike event.

We will soon be defining goals for 2023 and beyond. Our success is primarily dependent on donations from the second homeowners in Exuma. We welcome your ideas and feedback so please feel free to reach out. Thank you to all of those who have supported Friends of Exuma and the organizations enrolled.

Bob Coughlin

Board President

FOE 2022 Midyear Update

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