When you are a non-profit organization with free admission you depend on the generous support of the community, volunteers, and ocean conservation advocates around the world to help you operate on a daily basis. We are incredibly grateful for every individual and business who takes the time out of their day to think of us. Often we are asked “what are the donations used for” – a question that solicits the answer “everything.” Common household items, such as dish soap, hand soap, laundry soap (free and clear), paper towels, and heavy duty scour pads (without sponges) are used by the rehabilitation staff to keep the hospital, sea turtles, and tanks clean. But when you are a working sea turtle trauma hospital and ocean conservation hub you are forced to become innovative. Although we often use items for their intended purpose, our staff and volunteers depend on certain items for an alternative use.
Honey – A teaspoon of sugar may help Mary Poppins’ medicine go down, but a teaspoon of sugar helps heal our sea turtles’ wounds. Our rehab staff and volunteers use honey, which is also used by people in medicines, to treat open wounds on the sea turtles. Our hospital uses honey for its antibacterial properties, its ability to pull exudate out of wounds as it’s sugars dry, and because It helps cover and protect the wound. It’s important to note that only raw, natural honey can be used to treat wounds.
Race Car Straps – What do Indy 500 race car drivers and our sea turtle patients have in common? They both use race car straps when they travel on land. Although our sea turtles are not rushing into the hospital at 240 mph, they are strapped onto a gurney with race car straps. Some of our sea turtles weigh hundreds of pounds, thus for their safety we securely fasten them to a gurney when transporting them into the hospital for routine tests.
Tennis Ball Cont
ainers – Each day our responsible anglers serve up a handful of monofilament fishing line into tennis ball containers. These containers are an ideal shape for preventing recycled fishing line from blowing away. These containers are installed at piers across the U.S. and Puerto Rico through our Responsible Pier Initiative (RPI). Through the Initiative, over 5,000 pounds of marine debris has been removed from the area, surrounding participating piers.
Additional Supplies
In addition to items used for an alternative use our center is always in need of supplies. Thanks to AmazonSmile, when you purchase items a portion of the proceeds will be given to the center.
Development:
- Silent auction items for our Go Blue Awards
Giftstore:
- A new POS system
Marketing:
- DJI Osmo Handheld 4K Camera and 3-Axis Gimbal
- D7200 Nikon Digatal SLR Camera
- Social Media Analytics Software
Rehabilitation Daily Use:
- Bleach (concentrate – NOT the splash free)
- Brown and white 3M DoodleBug pads
- Dish Soap
- Grafco Lens Paper 4” x 6”
- Hand Soap
- Heavy Duty Scour Pads (without sponges)
- Isopropyl Alcohol (70%)
- Johnson & Johnson Cidex Opa Gallons – Sku JNJ20390
- KimTech delicate task wipers
- Laundry Soap (free and clear)
- Paper Towels
- Simple Green
- Virkon S Powder 10lb pail
- Zep Commercial Professional Sprayers 32oz
- Johnson & Johnson Cidex Opa Gallons – Sku JNJ20390
- KimTech delicate task wipers
Research:
- Waterproof compasses
- Batteries (AAA and AA)
- Beach Towels
- Bungee cords (48 inch)
- Headlamps that include a red light feature
- Latex gloves
- Marsh X-10 black markers
- Micro SD card
- Pencils (#2)
- Plastic milk crates 19’’ x 3’’ x 11’’
- Ram Mount Large Size Aqua Box
- Rubber Bands
- SD card reader to USB
- Soft measuring tapes
- Tank Saddlebags for ATVs
- Trupulse 200 or 200L Laser Rangefinders
- WD-40 Gallon size can
- WD-40 plastic spray applicator
- Wood Stakes (3ft)
- Write in Rain Copier Paper
- Ziplock bags (gallon or two-gallon size)
- Zipties (8 inch)