TEXAS SEALIFE CENTER

Texas Sealife Center's mission is rescue injured and stranded coastal and aquatic wildlife, to provide supportive care and rehabilitation, to release wildlife back into their natural habitat, and to educate and promote public awareness about conservation efforts to save wildlife. We have achieved this with a dedicated group of talented volunteers (20 core volunteers in 2019). We have begun developing grant proposals to help bolster our infrastructure and to hire paid staff to handle the ever-growing amount of administrative work involved in managing Texas Sealife Center year-round. Our goal is to increase our capacity for service in all areas in the months and years ahead. If you can help, please let us know. Thank you.

Texas Sealife Center exists because of a highly dedicated, veterinarian-led, hands-on, all-volunteer workforce. They are the "core" of the Center's success, numbering 20 in 2019. Our strategy is to continue providing the Center's life saving veterinary expertise and services to rescue and rehabilitate an ever-growing number of stranded and injured sea turtles, shorebirds and raptors. The Center hopes to expand into dolphin care in future years. In addition, the Center hopes to secure funding for and hire its first paid employee(s). The Center has become more successful and busy; the need for professional assistance to manage the administrative burden is essential. We are now preparing plans and grant proposals to help make this possible. If you can help, please let us know. Thank you.

Texas Sealife Center has demonstrated it has the knowledge and expertise to ably meet its goals of rescuing injured and stranded coastal and aquatic wildlife, providing supportive care and rehabilitation, releasing wildlife back into their natural habitats, and educating and promoting public awareness about conservation efforts to save wildlife. We have accomplished a great deal with an all-volunteer workforce, centered on 20 key volunteers who help with feeding and cleaning of education animals and hospital patients; cleaning sea turtle tanks; feeding sea turtle patients; handling water changes for sea turtle tanks; leading public tours; assisting with rescues and releases; assisting with medical care and treatment of wildlife patients; maintaining habitat of our surrounding grounds; and managing daily operational tasks like office work, laundry and dish cleaning. Texas Sealife Center anticipates moving forward successfully with all these tasks utilizing our current (and future) volunteers, and hopefully soon, the Center will be able to fund its first paid employee(s) to reduce the administrative burden on our volunteers and enhance our nonprofit's professionalism overall.

Texas Sealife Center is a relatively young nonprofit organization. It was founded in 2011, and in 2012, the Center was given a building at Packery Channel Nature Park by the Nueces County Park Board. In 2013, renovations began to convert the building and land into a hospital, education center and nature trail. The persistence of our volunteers allowed the Center to accept its first bird and sea turtle for rehabilitation in September, 2013. Since then, the Center's volunteers have saved and cared for approximately 400 injured and stranded wildlife annually. We anticipate continued first class service to the wildlife of the Coastal Bend in the months and years ahead.