Friends of Burlington Island Celebrates Its First Year
By Valerie Herenchak, Treasurer, Friends of Burlington Island
Friends of Burlington Island is excited to be part of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed because we’ve been advocating for our corner of the watershed, Burlington Island, for over a year now.
What does it take to create a successful organization? Well to start with, you need a clearly defined purpose, but you also need passion to make a go of it, so the members of Friends of Burlington Island are dedicated to the purpose in order to achieve it. A group of people had the passion, and shared a common vision to open the Burlington Island to the public for more than a decade. They had a vision for an organization that would make it a reality, so they came together to formally meet as a group in June of 2019 to create the Friends of Burlington Island (FOBI).
The vision for FOBI and its purpose is to support the Board of Island Managers in their mission to safely and responsibly open the island for the education and enjoyment of the public. Because Burlington Island sits on the Delaware River between the cities of Burlington, NJ and Bristol Borough, PA, folks from both municipalities came together to join the FOBI team. At that first meeting in June 2019, officers were elected, and as a team they voted to accept a constitution and by-laws for the organization. That made it official.
From there, the FOBI team steadily progressed from procuring legal recognition with the state of New Jersey, and the IRS, as a non-profit organization, and identified goals to achieve their purpose. Monthly meetings were scheduled, and committees were created to oversee and accomplish the organization’s goals: to introduce FOBI to the public and generate interest in the local community, collect signatures on a petition to prevent the island being used to dump dredge spoils, continue the clean-up of debris on the island, maintain the trail system, and raise funds.
Seems fairly straight forward, but the devil is in the details. To start with, there was a great deal of confusion around who actually owns the island. Countless hours of painstaking research went into digging into the history of the Island from the Native Americans and Swedish settlers in the 1600’s to today. What a fascinating history the island has! You can learn more here on the FOBI website.
Ownership was a critical issue because it determined which entity could apply for funding grants and building permits, buy insurance, and grant permission for access. Once the ownership question was sorted out, decisions could be made about how best to proceed with regard to FOBI’s goals. But the work of cleaning up and maintaining the island never stopped. Crews go over to the island every week to remove trash left behind, mow the trails, and clear debris left after storms. In the meantime, it has been encouraging to see a steady influx of new members as folks become more aware of FOBI and our mission.
The first step is fundraising. Holding events and applying for grants is a primary focus. In December plans were made for FOBI’s first fundraising event this May. A venue was booked, tickets and fliers were printed up, and then COVID-19 happened. Unfortunately, as a result of the quarantine the events that had been planned had to be postponed indefinitely until we can all safely congregate again.
The monthly board meetings are now video conference sessions over the internet. But as with all things, this too shall pass. Once the quarantine is lifted, we’ll be able to have our fundraisers. Meanwhile, the grant writing efforts continue. It’s been a great first year for FOBI and we’ve accomplished a lot in these last 12 months! Growing from an idea into a working organization has been a truly rewarding experience, and we’re looking forward to what the next year will bring. Stay safe everyone!