Every year brings Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) challenges, surprises, and new opportunities to fulfill our mission.
Bringing New Life
Board of Directors, 2024
Coming onto the Board of Directors was Cynthia Kanner. Cynthia was previously a FOTFR educator. Currently, she is serving as the first Executive Director of the Prairie State Conservation Coalition. She has already brought new energy, skills, plans to our operations, rejuvenated the Governance Committee, and is our representative for the Elgin Fox Trot which is a major fundraiser for FOTFR. Welcome aboard Cynthia, you are already making a difference!
New Education Team and Territory
Our main work is always in education. With the departure of Jenni Kempf, former Director of Educational Programs Operations, it took a team of staff and retired teacher volunteers to handle the spring field season that welcomed over 2000 students in 6 weeks. Included was a new initiative with after-school programming in 17 schools in Aurora School District 131. This is a team approach, and we are recruiting members for our education team. We are growing in our geographic and programming capacity. Education represents more than half our annual budget expenditures!
SEC Expansion
Another growth area for education was at the Schweitzer Environmental Center (SEC). Under Jenni Kempf’s watch, we removed an interior wall to expand our programming space utilizing funds from the Kane County Riverboat Fund Program. The renovation has made a significant improvement for presentation capacity. The grant also replaced steps with a more accommodating concrete ramp entrance. All-star volunteers/retired teachers Michelle Soland and Don Purn have converted a first-floor space into The Wonder Room. It is now filled with a highly organized collection of educational resources and available for tours!
summer camp at SEC.
Their influence was responsible for launching our first summer camp experience with Dundee Township Park District. The two-week pilot was highly successful and will be expanded this year using SEC and the surrounding forest preserve!
Outreach Education
While maintaining our robust schedule of educational experiences for youth, we continued our regular regime of public outreach programs at community events, joining with service organizations, faith groups, clubs, and partner programs. The monthly second Sunday programs at SEC, Watershed Weekly publications, daily social media posts, and website updates reach thousands more with important current information.
Funding Support
To make all our work possible takes the support of our Friends. We run our annual Friend-raising campaign in April and participated in 8 different fund-raising efforts throughout the year. Much of the fundraising is done with our individual Friends and from a growing list of partnerships. The canoe raffle’s success came from the business donation of a $3000 canoe by NorthStar Canoe, and
a set of $300 paddles from Offshore Inflatable Boat Specialists. We had a successful year in growing our contribution base which translated directly to growing our services throughout the watershed community. With our Giving Tuesday and FaceBook fundraiser, we are well on our way to replacing our van. To kick-off our year-end giving campaign, the FOTFR Board displayed a 100% participation rate and generated $8000 to match donations before January 1st. Your donation now will have double the impact!
Working as a Watershed
The designation of the Fabulous Fox! National Water Trail in June demonstrated that our efforts must be on a watershed scale when possible. The annual Fox River Summit is an opportunity to develop such initiatives. Nothing illustrates a watershed effort quite like It’s Our Fox River Day (IOFRD). Covering 200 miles with a diversity of activities enjoyed by thousands, IOFRD is a clear confirmation of the interest and power of partnerships. Although FOTFR is the administrator, to pull it off it takes the collaborative efforts of individuals, organizations, municipalities and their departments (park districts), agencies, and added this year, businesses. Growth this year was evident, especially in Wisconsin. Rochester, Waterford, and Burlington signed IOFRD proclamations, and Burlington hosted 5 different events with one having multiple cleanup locations. Thank you again to all who are crucial to our efforts to build a watershed community of caretakers!
River Restoration Work
two-day event that recovered 30 tires.
From the beginning of FOTFR over 30 years ago, river restoration through dam removal was an advocacy priority. The stage was set for action with the influence of the Fox River Study Group’s 2022 dam removal recommendation, Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ on-going support, and the US Army Corps of Engineers’ study findings. They recommended removing 9 Kane County dams, and their support including funding. FOTFR played a leading role this year in public education. The very recent removal of the Carpentersville dam provided a working example. As the dam’s impoundment drew down a new challenge was presented. In partnership with the Kane County Forest Preserve District, FOTFR mobilized several days of mussel relocations and two extensive cleanups. It is exciting to see the emergence of a river restoring itself after 180 years of disconnection!
It Takes Friends
It was a very big year for FOTFR in addressing challenges and continuing to grow our Friends and services provided. It was only possible with the support of our Friend base. Please continue your loyal support of FOTFR. Consider advancing your involvement and contact us to explore the possibilities. Thank you for being a Friend of the Fox River!
The featured photo at the top of the page was taken by photographer Ira Marcus of the Fox River in Carpentersville (the former dam location). https://ira-marcus.pixels.com/
