As far back as I can remember I have been outside. I remember walking to my first day of school, sneaking into the fincas to enjoy quenepas with the neighborhood kid squad and enjoying the freezing clean waters of the el rio after a rainstorm had passed. For a while there, I thought my love affair with the outdoors was something from my childhood. But after finishing the "adulting" tasks of schooling, career and mortgage, the outside came calling back. Although my campo days were left in Puerto Rico, I find that being in nature in my adopted Atlanta has served to calm, ground and inspire me. Whether I am biking to work, running through the Old Fourth Ward or paddling the Hooch not much has been lost in translation.

I started working at the Georgia Conservancy 1 year ago this month. At first, I saw my job as the fortuitous mix of earning a living doing what you already love. But as our political landscape continues on a downward slope (I am looking at you Paris Agreement), I am more aware of the importance of my organization's mission and the responsibility we all have to the planet. In 2017, the Georgia Conservancy is celebrating 50 years of environmental protection. By making a donation to my 50 for 50 campaign efforts, you are ensuring that our work will continue for the next 50 years. There are too many initiatives to share, so if you would like to learn about the work of the Conservancy, please visit www.gaconservancy.org. Get informed, make a tax deductible donation and help protect our natural resources.

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!