Our Mission:
If you give someone a fish, you will feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish, and you will feed them for a lifetime. So the proverb goes; however, at Island Creek Oysters we hope to contribute one small coda to this old wisdom: Teach enough people to grow fish and you will feed the world. To that end, we created the Island Creek Oysters Foundation, which provides funding, expertise, and even labor to help build sustainable aquaculture systems in impoverished communities at home and around the world. We strive to make the most of the opportunities provided to us and to show others like us just how much one tiny business can give back. Through our partnerships and our own time, we hope to offer a source of food for the hungry, inspiration for the fortunate, and a better way of life for us all.
Currently, the Island Creek Oysters Foundation is funding an aquaculture project in Zanzibar. Through our friends at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, we've helped to build a shellfish hatchery that communities in Zanzibar will be able to use to source shellfish seed which they can grow, and in turn create a sustainable protein source.
We have also begun working with Dr. Valentin Abe of Caribbean Harvest Foundation to fund the creation of a domestic fishing industry in Haiti creating jobs and a sustainable source of protein and nutrition in one of the poorest countries in the world.
For the last six years, our largest fundraiser has been the annual Island Creek Oyster Festival. Over a half million dollars later, we have decided to end the Festival. In the spirit of innovation and and for the sake of keeping an epic party fresh, we are moving on to the next great thing. Check back soon, as there is much more to come. (Read more.)
In 2011 we added a Friday night fundraiser, “Friends for Haiti.” The proceeds from Friends for Haiti benefit Caribbean Harvest. Additional proceeds from the Oyster Festival Weekend fund the ongoing work of the Foundation including our collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Zanzibar where a shellfish hatchery is being successfully developed, as well as towards future projects where sustainable aquaculture can bring relief and hope to impoverished areas around the globe.
Donations to the Island Creek Oysters Foundation can be mailed to PO Box 348, Duxbury MA 02331. Island Creek Oysters Foundation is a 501C3 non profit organization #26-3007335.