Giving Thanks

We have so much to be grateful for. These are just a few that we’ve been posting on our Facebook Page this month. Thank you for being part of our story! Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving.

1. We are grateful for the opportunity to help sick, injured, and orphaned harbor seals like Rue.
2. We are grateful for our wonderful and dedicated volunteers, who help us in every aspect of our mission and our work.
3. We are grateful for the opportunity to help stranded loggerhead turtles like Tide.
4. We are grateful for all our friends who run, walk, sponsor, and donate to our annual Feet, Fins, and Flippers 5K.
5. We are grateful for the opportunity to teach kids and share our passion for marine animals and ocean conservation!
6. We are grateful for our our Founders – and Betsy and Townsend Hornor, our first and second board chairs – for their vision and leadership in establishing the National Marine Life Center
7. We are grateful to all our new friends who participated in our first ever Canal Fest. We are especially grateful to the volunteers who spent long hours creating this community event!
8. We are grateful for the opportunity to rehabilitate gray seals like Wasabi. Originally entangled in plastic line and suffering from a massive infection, Wasabi healed and was released!
9. We are grateful for the Cape Cod Canal, which provides healthy, clean saltwater for our marine animal patients as well as a beautiful place for animals and people alike!
10. We are grateful for our hospital building in which we can rehabilitate sea turtles, seals, and (one day) dolphins!
11. We are grateful to our friends and partners in the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Networks! It truly takes a village to help ocean animals
12. We are grateful for the wonderful and caring philanthropic community on Cape Cod!
13. We are grateful for the opportunity to care for endangered red bellied cooters!
14. We are grateful for our Mermaid Ball sponsors, donors, and participants who prove you can have a ball and help animals!
15. We are grateful for our country’s veterans, and we thank them and honor their service. Thank you to Board Chair Brian Moore, Chair Emeritus Jeff Luce, and all those in our family who have served.
16. We are grateful to the Town of Bourne for hosting the National Marine Life Center, supporting our growth, and being a great place to work and live!
17. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with talented and dedicated teachers, through collaborations with the ‪‎Museum Institute For Teaching Science‬, the Cape Cod and Southeast ‪‎STEM Networks‬, and other partners.
18. We are grateful for the opportunity to engage in science and learn more about animal health, ocean health, and human health.
19. We are grateful for our plans to grow and expand. Our dream is to eventually have pools big enough to care for dolphins and pilot whales!
20. We are grateful for the opportunity to help stranded, cold-stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, like Caden – #41 – from the 2014-2015 season! It is a privilege to work with these beautiful endangered species.
21. We are grateful for the leadership, unwavering support, passion, and generosity of Board Chair Emeritus Jeff Luce. His small and large kindnesses to everyone from the newest volunteer to the longest time supporter was legendary. His legacy lives on. We will miss you.
22. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with diamondback terrapins like Penny. They have such personality! (Turtle-ality?)
23. We are grateful for the leadership of our Board of Trustees. They volunteer long hours to guide us forward!
24. We are grateful for our youth volunteers who take care of our red bellied cooters and box turtles and also help with education and events!
25. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with box turtles like Daisy (pictured) and Violet. Even when they’re being silly, they’re really cool animals!
26. Her wide-eyed excitement says it all! We are grateful for the privilege of releasing animals like Tarragon back into the wild.
27. We are grateful for our dedicated and hard working staff, who make the National Marine Life Center their avocation as much as their vocation!
28. We are grateful for the wonderful AmeriCorps Cape Cod Service Members who serve and have served with us over the past four years! You exemplify the spirit of giving!
29. We are grateful for talented interns who join us from all over the country (and beyond!) and help in all aspects of our mission.
30. We are grateful to participate in the collaborative Spectacle of Trees fundraiser! It’s a pleasure to work with so many local non-profits doing good work.
31. We are grateful for unsung heroes who quietly come in, see what needs to be done, and take care of small and large projects that make our facility and organization better. You are amazing!
32. We are grateful to YOU, our supporters, who come to our releases, visit our Discovery Center, participate in events, and donate to our mission. Thank you!