Supporting What You Believe In

By Beth Sullivan

As we head deeper into the Giving Season, I find it very hard to make choices: choices about charities and causes. If you are of a giving nature, you peruse all the requests, listen to the phone calls, research the organizations, and try to make a decision with your head as well as your heart.

Often I head out for a walk; sometimes it clears my head during this busy time. I look out over a marsh and realize how the edge of the sea is such a dynamic special place. I appreciate the open sky, fields and forest. And then I realize where MY heart is, with the land.

Places to appreciate  

I find respite and peace, but also stimulation and adventure. I choose my own pace: fast for exercise or slow and meandering for meditation. I can choose to be alone, grab a friend on a leash or find a hiking partner. I can choose a trail that is clean and wide, or diverge into the woods and get off the beaten path. There is never an admission fee.

We appreciate the peaceful land

It is for this reason that I continue to support Avalonia Land Conservancy in its simple, honest mission to preserve and protect land through Acquisition and Stewardship.

We appreciate the next generation of stewards

We grow with your help

In the last several years, our organization has grown and strengthened. As we expand our reach through 8 towns, we are the largest and most diverse land trust in SE CT. We are working toward Land Trust Alliance accreditation - a daunting and challenging task considering how great our responsibilities are already. The vast majority of this work is done by volunteers who believe in the same goals. Our Executive Director and office manager/ book keeper are essential to the task of keeping us organized and all on the proper path! Another challenging task.

Together we explore the land

Trying to juggle our commitment to the environment and our relationship with the public, with funding sources, educational organizations and State and Federal groups that assist us takes a huge effort and we have all our volunteers, you, to thank.

Together we protect over 3500 acres for the purpose of providing habitat for varied wildlife. In doing so, that wildlife, those habitats, are there for you to explore and enjoy whenever you choose. It is only with your membership and your donations, that this is possible.

We appreciate the wildlife we so easily see.

I invite you to explore our website to get an understanding of the scope of our work at this point in time - a big difference from a few decades ago. We invite you to come enjoy our lands, your lands, in whatever way helps you believe that we share the same goals. Think of what your home community means to you. If open space, freedom to explore, and the knowledge that land and wildlife is protected for future generations in your community, are important to you, then please join me in supporting YOUR land trust, during Avalonia’s Annual Appeal.

And, of course, we thank you now for a gift that will truly keep on giving.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan.

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