Special Projects Chair 2024-2025: Bonnie Korbeil
The Special Projects Committee is responsible for the distribution of funds to organizations that enhance the environment, the landscape, the waterways and the ecology of the area.
A project proposal is submitted to the committee which meets 2 to 3 times a year. We discuss and review the projects that have applied for grants. After review a project that is deemed worthy is awarded a grant.
The funding of these grants are results from the profits of our Holiday House Tour and Outside Living Garden Tour and Art Show. The members of this committee are Mary Wilding, Dorain Madreperia, Judie Alloway and Eileen Szperka. Grantees are listed in our yearly Garden Club Yearbook as well as our website.
In the past, we have been awarded grants to:
Conserve Wildlife NJ, Marine Mammal Stranding Center, Terrapin Nesting Project, Beach Haven Community Garden, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, ReClam the Bay, LBIF Veterans Garden, Alliance for a Living Ocean (ALO).
With another successful house tour and garden tour, we will be able to continue helping those who have projects that need funding.
If you know of a project that needs funding please scroll down for an application or contact Bonnie Korbeil at johnbon1599@comcast.net
The Garden Club of Long Beach Island Project Proposal
Click here for a print-friendly version of the form below.
Hunger Foundation of Southern Ocean County
Photos by Bay Magazine
The Hunger Foundation of Southern Ocean is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, volunteer-only organization which hosts charitable events to raise awareness about, and funds for, local food pantries as they help thousands of families each year in the Southern Ocean area for over 28 years.
We are grateful for all the support we receive from our local community members through our events and sponsorships from our various local businesses. These donations help us fund ten local food pantries and feed countless Southern Jersey families and children in need.
The Garden Club has been happy to support Ben Wurst of Conserve Wildlife NJ and Project RedBand. Ospreys that nest in the Barnegat Bay watershed are given an auxiliary red band on their right leg. This allows osprey watchers and wildlife photographers to spot these birds so they can report sightings, which gives Conserve Wildlife NJ important information about their habitat, migration routes, and life span. The osprey have continued to thrive in our area especially if you have been watching the cam that streams live from the Barnegat Light nest.
Pine Wilt Disease and Common Maladies of NJ Coastal Pines
With funds provided by the Special Projects Committee of the Garden Club of LBI, LBIF and Conserve Wildlife provided guidance for homeowners in the LBI region to address tree health and care while promoting native plants. The partnership hosted a Tree Disease Workshop on April 27, 2019 at LBIF with expert speaker Richard Buckley from Rutgers University along with a native plant sale. As part of the Workshop we offered free eastern cedar trees to local LBI homeowners. Garden Club members JoAnne McKee, Karen Martinez, Mary Wilding, Cathy Sutton and Ginny Scarlatelli were on hand to help with the sale and distribution of red cedar seedlings to residents that the Garden Club had provided funds for through a Special Projects proposal. The seedlings are intended to help replace some of the black pines that have died because of the pine bark beetle infestation.
Long Beach Island Foundation Veteran’s Garden
Winner of the 2018 Central Atlantic Region of State Garden Clubs Award for Civic Development to the Veteran’s Memorial Garden.
Conserve Wildlife NJ – Bald Eagle Project
We help manage and protect bald eagles to ensure their long term survival. In 2018, there were 204 pairs of bald eagles that were monitored in New Jersey.
Marine Mammal Stranding Center
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is a private non-profit organization based in Brigantine and is the only organization in the State of New Jersey authorized to rescue and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals and sea turtles. Since the Center’s founding in 1978, more than 4,300 animals (including whales, dolphins, seals & sea turtles) have been handled by the Center. To learn more, visit http://mmsc.org/home.html
Mission Statement: Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release, Preserve
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is dedicated to responding to marine mammals and sea turtles in distress along all of New Jersey’s waterways and to the rehabilitation of these animals for release back into the wild. In situations where animals may not be released, every effort is made to secure a proper, enriching facility to provide lifetime care. We are further committed to the well-being of marine mammals and to inspire responsible stewardship of our oceans through educational programs and collaboration.
ReClam the Bay
ReClam the Bay is a local, non-profit environmental organization that promotes environmental involvement and education in a constructive and helpful way. Together we grow and maintain millions of baby clams and oysters in the Barnegat Bay Watershed which includes Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and Little Egg Harbor bay.
Terrapin Nesting Project
The Terrapin Nesting Project has been another one of the successful projects we have funded over the past few years. It is run by Kathy Lacey, who has shared her love of turtles at our past meetings. While most of her work is in Barnegat Light/High Harbor area, we have a flourishing, but smaller hatchery in Holgate. We hatched and released 819 baby terrapins into the bay and wetlands.
The Terrapin Nesting Project protects nesting Diamondback Terrapins on Long Beach Island, their eggs and their hatchlings, and educates the public on the vital role they play in maintaining the health of Barnegat Bay’s ecosystem. If you’d like to learn more or volunteer, click: www.terrapinnestingproject.com
Alliance for a Living Ocean
The mission of the Alliance for a Living Ocean shall be to promote and maintain clean water and a healthy coastal environment through education, research and active participation. We recognize the need to manage our entire watershed, bay and ocean holistically since all water flows from “the raindrop to the ocean.”
Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Mission Statement
To Protect and Preserve the Resources of the New Jersey Pinelands.
The Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the Pinelands of New Jersey. PPA was founded in 1989 to be the leading voice for protecting the natural and historic resources of the New Jersey Pinelands.
Beach Haven Community Garden Project
Six years ago some of the parishioner’s at Holy Innocents Church had a vision. The sunshine filled gravel parking lot would be an excellent place to start a Community Garden in Beach Haven. With the help of the Garden Club of LBI and the Rotary Club the enthusiastic gardeners got started in April 2009.
Today there are forty seven raised beds and about 25 straw bales in the garden. Many of the gardens are filled year round and provide a beautiful alternative to the old gravel parking lot. The gardens provide fresh, organic fruit and vegetables to its members and a lovely, quiet gathering space especially during our busy summers. The gardeners meet informally while tending to their gardens but also enjoy group events such as the One Long Table dinner during the summer. In addition, the gardeners share their abundance of produce with the local food pantry at St. Francis.
