About the Friends

The Friends of Virgin Islands National Park (Friends) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the natural and cultural resources of Virgin Islands National Park (Park). As the official private sector partner to the Park, the Friends is a membership organization that raises funds from individuals, corporations and foundations to supplement the Park's budget.

Money raised by the Friends supports environmental education, natural resource conservation, cultural preservation and scientific research. The Friends also acts as an advocate for our National Park, particularly on issues that threaten its precious natural or cultural resources.

Incorporated in 1988, the Friends is governed by a 13-member volunteer Board of Directors. Our full-time staff consists of an executive director, development director and program manager. On a part time basis, we employ an office assistant and bookkeeper. Our offices are located just outside the Park in Mongoose Junction, Cruz Bay on St. John, US Virgin Islands.

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Results

December 2006 marked the 50th anniversary of Virgin Islands National Park, and because of the generous financial support of our donors, Friends of Virgin Islands National Park has played a significant role in helping protect and preserve VI National Park for the past 17 years. Below is just a sample of the projects and programs that Friends funding has supported

The Friends closely monitors projects for which we raise funds. We assure that projects are conducted on schedule and that funds are expended effectively.

Learn more about Friends Projects and Activities

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Goals

Our future looks bright. Our Board of Directors are dedicated, our staff is skilled, our accomplishments are admirable, and our reputation is that of an organization that gets good things done for the Park and St. John.

Early each year, Virgin Islands National Park submits a support request list to the Friends’ Board of Directors. The Board carefully evaluates each item within the context of our mission and funding priorities. Projects that further efforts previously funded and those that involve volunteers are of most interest to us.

Always with an eye toward the future, we work closely with the Park Superintendent and Park staff to develop new projects, set priorities and apprise philanthropic individuals and organizations of opportunities for supporting Virgin Islands National Park.

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Budget

In 1999, we received a large gift which allowed us to establish an endowment of $1,700,000. Currently, over 60% of our support comes from the generous donations of individuals, with the remaining 40% from corporations, private foundations, and sale of Friends’ merchandise.

In recent years, Friends funding has reached $400,000 annually in support of programs and projects in Virgin Islands National Park.

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Membership

The Friends has more than 3,000 members from the Virgin Islands, all 50 states and ten foreign countries. We keep in touch with our members via quarterly newsletters, e-mail, annual membership renewal letters, special appeals, community events and our website.

More membership information

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Volunteers

We are a grassroots organization that promotes volunteerism among residents as well as those who would like to help during their holiday on the island. Friends volunteers contribute thousands of hours to the Park each year. Our volunteers offer tours at the Annaberg Plantation ruins, clean beaches, clear trails, assist Park scientists, record and label artifacts from the Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay dig sites, teach seminars, maintain our website, and assist in our retail store and the office.

More on volunteer opportunities

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Leadership

Our volunteer Board of Directors consists of community-oriented leaders who represent a variety of interests in the Virgin Islands from both the public and private sectors. Traditional officer positions are assigned based on bylaws. The Board meets monthly, requires a seven-member quorum and holds an annual membership meeting to fill any vacant positions and to update members on the state of the organization and the state of the Park.

Our Directors, as of January 2008:

Executive Committee

Fraser Drummond, Chairman
Sam Hall, Vice Chairman
Harry Daniel, Secretary
Elsa Angel, Treasurer

Directors

In 2002 the Board of Directors established an Advisory Council with the aim to:

Advisory Council Members

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Friends Staff

Joe Kessler, President

Joe joined the Friends in 2001 with more than 20 years of non-profit management experience, principally as an international relief and development assistance professional.
Contact Joe at 340-779-4940 or jkessler@friendsvinp.org

Karen Brady, Development Director

Karen joined the Friends in September, 2003.  Karen comes to us from Minnesota where she has had about thirteen years of experience with non-profits as a communications manager, fundraiser, development director and executive director of an academy and an animal shelter. Karen can best help you with matters related to gifts, donations, and public relations. She is the first point of contact for our business partners and members of the media.
Contact Karen at 340-779-4940 or kbrady@friendsvinp.org

Kristen Maize, Program Manager

Kristen Maize joined us as Program Manager in July 2005. Kristin graduated from the University of San Diego, CA where she earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies. She grew up on St. John, and has lots of passion for her home and its fragile ecosystems. She is very excited to be working for the Friends and is a great asset to the team.  Kristen can best help you with matters related to specific project activities, the Friends Seminar Program and volunteer opportunities.
Contact Kristen at 340-779-4940 or kmaize@friendsvinp.org

Arlington (Ali) Tyrell, Administrative Assistant

Ali is the Friends’ administrative assistant who joined us in May, 2005.  Arlington Tyrell (known to all his friends and co-workers as “Ali”) is native to St. John and moved to Virginia when he was 15, lived in California for 2 years, and Texas for 1-1/2 years. After returning home from the U.S., he was employed at Scotia Bank as a teller and later as a Personal Banking Assistant. Ali is well-known on St. John for his kind personality and humbling patience. He is happy to have the opportunity to work for the Friends in that it fulfills his interest in environmental and cultural preservation. “We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so much beauty on St. John,” he says. Ali will help you with matters related to membership, license plates and Friends Boutique items.

Contact Ali at 340-779-4940 or atyrell@friendsvinp.org

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Friends Tidings

The Friends Tidings is our quarterly newsletter and our principal means of communication with our members and partners. We present news and articles about Virgin Islands National Park and the Friends. It is available to members by either e-mail or in hard copy, although we encourage you to help us save time and money by requesting an e-mail version.

Enjoy the current issue or go to the archives to see previous issues.

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Friends of Virgin Islands National Park Privacy Policy

Friends is concerned about the privacy of our members and the confidentiality of their information. The intent of this privacy statement is to clarify our efforts and activities in this area as it relates to Information privacy on the internet and in all our operations.

Key points:

We identify and track the single, previous URL internet visitors have come from when accessing our site. This information is used to help us better understand how we are discovered. We track the pages you access while at our site to help us keep the site fresh and meaningful.

We DO NOT store a cookie -- a tiny text file -- on your system.

We request specific member information, such as name, address and email address when you join or volunteer. This information may be entered into the membership database and is used to communicate with you on Friends issues and to provide regular updates from the islands.  We encourage you to choose electronic communication over regular mail to enable us to spend postage dollars on more meaningful endeavors.

We do not sell, rent or trade mailing lists of our membership to any organization. Information for volunteers is shared with the Virgin Islands National Park and is then protected by the Privacy Act (PL 93-579). 5 U.S.C.301 and 7 CFR 260 which authorizes acceptance of the information requested in the volunteer application. That data will be used to contact applicants and to interview, screen, and select them for volunteer assignments.  Furnishing this data is voluntary.

Please send comments or questions regarding this privacy policy statement, or other issues surrounding the Friends' web site, to:

Friends of VINP
P O Box 811
St John, VI 00831

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