Friends of Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge earn NWRA Friends Group of the Year Award

Washington D.C. — July 7th, 2022

Volunteers make the world work….better. Thanks to the Friends of Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge (Friends) in Southern California, more people are learning about the refuge and why it’s so vital to its nearby communities. This group's countless hours of service and its long-term commitment to nature and conservation earned the Friends the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s 2022 Molly Krival— Refuge Friends Group of the Year Award.

This award recognizes the outstanding contributions by the groups of dedicated volunteers in Friends organizations who provide essential services to the Refuge System. This award is named to honor the late Molly Krival, a pioneer in the Refuge Friends movement throughout the Refuge System. The Wildlife Refuge Awards dinner will take place on Wednesday, September 14 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC at 6 p.m. Media is welcome to attend and cover the program.

“When engaging with the community one can always hear members of the Friends group talking passionately about this refuge and what a unique place it is for our urban area,” said Carolyn Vance, Friends of Seal Beach NWR President. ”Through the long-term commitment of our volunteers, we have also stepped in to ensure continuity when gaps in refuge staffing have occurred.”

Some of the group’s major accomplishments include:

Over the past few years, the Friends set up a booth at more than 25 events, many of which were in communities not visited before. This effort resulted in contacting over 7,500 people in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The Friends develop connections with various groups throughout the community such as the El Dorado Chapter of the National Audubon Society which is a frequent source for new volunteers, and the Seal Beach Fishing Derby sponsored by the Los Alamitos/Seal Beach Rotary Club.
The group submits a series of articles about the Refuge in the local Seal Beach Sun newspaper guest column as a voice and advocate to increase awareness.

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The National Wildlife Refuge Association is a non-profit exclusively focused on protecting, promoting, and enhancing the 850-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, the world’s largest network of lands and waters set aside for wildlife conservation.

For all media inquiries and questions please contact Eden Taylor, Communications Associate at etaylor@refugeassociation.org.