From CCMI

Located in pristine Little Cayman, the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) is Cayman’s only non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to understanding and protecting the islands’ coral reefs and the life they support.

Join us as we host our 10th annual fundraising event in Grand Cayman. Festival of Seas: Blue Gala, formerly known as Festival of Trees, is dedicated to celebrating our seas and supporting CCMI’s research, education, and conservation programmes.

The Gala Dinner and auction will be held on Saturday, October 18th at the ARC, Camana Bay. Each course of the dinner will be catered by a different one of the many excellent restaurants of Camana Bay. Stroll around during dinner with a champagne and bid on items in our live auction. Afterwards, our silent auction features donations from local businesses – artwork, vacation packages, photography, and modern gadgets all showcase in this event, and all auction costs go directly to CCMI research and education programmes. Join us in celebrating Cayman’s ocean treasures and CCMI’s ambitious plans to understand and protect them!

Tickets are:

Gold sponsor table $3,500

Sponsor table $1,750

Individual tickets $175

Festival of Seas Blue Gala

Saturday 18 October

6:30 p.m.

ARC, Camana Bay

[email protected]

www.reefresearch.org

To learn more, contact Jade Arch: [email protected]

What happens with the money we raise?

The Festival of Seas: Blue Gala provides funding to help us achieve CCMI’s mission of protecting coral reefs for the future. Funds from the festival directly support our work in the Cayman Islands. Here are some of the projects made possible by our Annual Festival of Seas.

We have:

• Purchased a 34ft Dive Boat through the direct pledge.
• Established and expanded the first coral nursery in the Cayman Islands which is working to improve the health of highly threatened staghorn corals.

• Given full residential scholarships to over 200 children from the public schools across the Cayman Islands.

• Launched a Young Environmental Leadership Course which trains Caymanian high school students in marine conservation and dive tourism.

Why Sponsor Festival of Seas: Blue Gala?

This event is well established in Grand Cayman with an attendance of around 260 people drawn from among the islands’ most prominent businesses and families.

CCMI has a significant reach both locally and internationally. Our sponsors are recognised around the globe for their far-sighted generosity.

As a sponsor:

• You will benefit from extensive pre-event publicity throughout the islands.

• You will be featured in Cayman Compass ads, on TV and receive frequent mentions in our 2 month pre-event campaign.

• You will receive prominent placement in the programme at the gala dinner.

The Blue Gala is the only fundraising event that CCMI holds in Grand Cayman, so please join us for this fantastic event in 2014.

REASONS TO CONTRIBUTE TO CCMI

CCMI is working to understand what is causing the decline in the health of our reefs and what might contribute to more resilient reefs. Our goal is to establish the best protective strategies and promote realistic solutions that will reduce the major threats by humans so that reefs can weather the stresses caused by global warming and climate change. In addition, we aim to communicate any knowledge gained to both public and private entities in order to facilitate the changes that will reduce decline on reefs. In doing so, we aim to become “the” center of excellence for climate change and coral reef stress.

LITTLE CAYMAN RESEARCH CENTER

We have built the Little Cayman Research Center (LCRC) as a research and training facility. Its location is important as a demonstration site for coral reef resilience and as a reference site for scientists working on coral reefs with low human impact.

RESEARCH

CCMI and visiting scientists are revealing new species and higher biodiversity than previously known on our reefs. Our work is also showing that, while adult corals have been reduced by 40%, juvenile corals of every major species important on Caribbean reefs are also re-populating the reefs. In addition, we have documented that a deadly disease called “White Plague” is the leading cause of mortality of corals in the region. Finally, as part of our NOAA partnership, we have invested in an ICON ocean observatory to better understand how changing climate is recorded in tropical oceans.

EDUCATION

CCMI provides a variety of school, undergraduate, graduate and professional marine ecology and conservation field-oriented education. These programmes allow students to gain a better understanding of critical issues facing tropical marine ecosystems and are aimed at improving our youth, community and visitors’ appreciation and understanding of marine conservation issues.

Sponsorship

CCMI relies on partnerships with key corporate sponsors, private donors and institutions. We have a history of working with large and small companies, individuals and foundations, always ensuring a professional relationship with clear goals and objectives is developed.

CCMI has a variety of sponsorship opportunities available with:

Research projects

Education and outreach

Conservation projects

Facilities expansion projects

Volunteering!

We also host a number of key fundraisers each year, and any new/ongoing support with fundraising is gratefully received.

Web: http://reefresearch.org/sponsorship/#link-1

IMAGE: Front entrance to the Little Cayman Research Center. (Photograph by Jonathan Clamp)

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