Our 2026 Goals (and How You can Help)

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During January, while the wild turtles are sleeping safely below the ice, our board of directors and executive director have been hard at work planning for the year ahead. We have some big goals for our fifth anniversary year, but our biggest goals are always to save turtles and bring an end to turtle road mortality. Check out what we’re working on and how you can help save turtles.

  • Fund our $11,000 operating budget. This is how much revenue we need to purchases supplies and equipment to house our injured, rescued, and ambassador turtles, feed everyone, and cover our modest fundraising and administrative expenses. You can help by donating money and items from our Amazon and Chewy wishlists.
  • Build a new wild turtle care center. As much as we love our old school bus, it has seen better days and we have outgrown it. If we can raise $20,000, we will replace it with a shed-style building which is insulated and heated for four-season use. Our fundraising drive begins in February, so watch for that.
  • Present 25 education programs to children and teens in parts of our region we haven’t yet visited. Know of a school, library, scout troop, day camp, or other organization that serves children and teens? Share our education programs with them or send us a message with suggestions.
  • Receive grant funding to bring children and teen programs to underfunded institutions. We are looking for foundations that offer small grants (we estimate $4,000 is needed) to fund environmental education programs in schools and libraries. The grant will cover our program honorariums as well as printing the educational materials we share and updating some of our travel containers so they are safer for the turtles and the kids. You can help by letting us know if you come across grant opportunities. Have grant writing experience? Please reach out if you would be willing to volunteer some time to assist us with grant applications.
  • Find 5 volunteers to assist with turtle tub cleaning, record-keeping, taking pictures, and other tasks to support our wildlife rehabilitators in Schroon Lake and Saratoga, and to assist at public events and education programs. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us for more information.
  • Offer at least one turtle conservation presentation to a large audience of land and waterway use stakeholders. In 2025, we co-presented with the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation on how turtles and loons were key parts of a healthy lake ecosystem to our local Schroon Lake Association. It went well and we would like to do more. Know of any lake associations, land or wildlife conservation organizations, or similar organizations whose members would like to know more about protecting turtles and their habitats? Please share our program information or send us your leads.

Thank you for supporting our 2026 goals. Let’s save turtles!