by Nancy Bedan

Mid-Missouri residents can make donations to any of 114 nonprofit organizations through the 2017 CoMoGives fundraiser during the month of December. The Community Foundation of Central Missouri coordinates the fund drive and provides a single website (www.comogives.com) where gifts can be made to any of the participating groups. These organizations, Columbia Audubon Society included, offer exceptional programs and services to our community.

Columbia Audubon has used funds received through the CoMoGives drive to create and maintain a 13-acre native prairie on the 28-acre Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary and the city’s adjacent Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary; provide the Band with Nature field trip for 1,100 second graders in Columbia Public Schools; and provide scholarships for older students and teachers to attend science and nature-education programs. Columbia Audubon is an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff and big goals. Donations received through the CoMoGives fund drive supplement membership dues and give the CAS annual budget a much-needed boost.

The CoMoGives fund drive begins Dec. 1 and ends at midnight Dec. 31. The drive is conducted entirely online, and gifts are made using credit or debit cards. Donors have the opportunity to make their gifts in honor or in memory of friends or family members. The minimum gift is $10. Donations will be acknowledged by both Columbia Audubon Society and CoMoGives. For more information about the 2017 CoMoGives drive and, of course, to donate, visit the CoMoGives website.

And remember, if you want to support Columbia Audubon’s programs but aren’t comfortable with online giving, you can always write a check. Make donation checks payable to Columbia Audubon Society and mail them to:  Columbia Audubon Society, P.O. Box 1331, Columbia, MO  65205.

Columbia Audubon Society would appreciate your support during this season of giving.   – by Nancy Bedan, CAS CoMoGives Committee