I support the Georgia Conservancy because of their work protecting Cumberland Island. 

I remember the first time I stepped onto Cumberland Island. It was a family vacation in the late 1980s, when I was about 8. I remember the ferry ride over, looking for dolphins, begging my parents to buy us chips and drinks from the ferry’s canteen, the excitement of seeing our first “wild” horses on the island, searching for the clay tennis court outside the ruins of Dungeness, the rusted cars outside the mechanic’s shed and the incredible live oaks. As a child, the sand dunes seemed like giant white mountains, next to impossible to climb. The pristine beaches stretched out for miles and felt like a mystical paradise. The Sea Camp shower house was like an Amazonian outpost in the middle of the jungle, the last sign of humanity before the wilderness. That was one of the defining moments of my life.

I was a kid from a modest family in Rome, Georgia, but this island was ours. It belonged to us. It was ours to enjoy and protect. It was a discovery that changed my life forever.Yes, Cumberland Island once belonged to the Carnegie family, but now it belongs to all of us. This is a radical and wonderful idea, but it will wither on the vine without our support. Thank you for joining me in support of the Conservancy. 

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Over the next 12 months we’re raising the bar: conserving more than 30,000 - 35,000 acres of land, educating more than 3,500 people in “Georgia’s outdoor classroom” that we call our trips program, and helping thousands of students and parents breath a little easier with our school siting workshops. But, truthfully, the issue that gives us great concern is maintaining steady handed advocacy on behalf of the gem of Georgia’s coast: Cumberland Island. 

With so much to do, we’ve had to expand annual fundraising goals. We’re currently $50,000 behind our expanded funding needs and we need your help.

For our 50th Anniversary, we've asked some of our most important donors and members to share their Georgia story as a Georgia Conservancy Storyteller. 

Thank you for supporting our storytellers and the Georgia Conservancy!