Crunch Time to keep Picacho Open

Last week F4P members, Lorie Long and John Parsons met with California State Parks Acting District Superintendent, Gail Sevrens and Acting District Superintendent, Paul Reisman to discuss a donor agreement for Picacho SRA. 

State Parks and  the Bureau of Land Management are still in negotiations over a cost-sharing agreement for the park.

However, If BLM is able to contribute money towards Picacho there is still a gap in funding. State Parks has asked us to raise $60,586.00 to cover this gap.

We need your help to keep Picacho open.

Our new non-profit status allows us to support Picacho in a donor agreement with State Parks. We will be taking pledges on our website at http://www.friends4picacho.org/pledge-your-support.html. 

Tell your friends and family. Every dollar helps.  Donors must pledge given amounts in U.S. dollars.

 We will not collect on the pledges until the donor agreement with the State Parks is signed.  

Let's Save Our Beautiful Picacho SRA!  Download a flyer from our website http://www.friends4picacho.org/flyers.html and post at your place of business, organization, or in your neighborhood.  

Be creative. Sometimes a simple e-mail is all that is needed to gain some support. If each of us takes that extra step to spread the word, we can raise the funds.  

Our fundraising committee is also pursuing some opportunities for grant money available this month. Several members are also approaching businesses and organizations to ask for donations. The response has been positive, with many offering to put out flyers, or post information to their members, on our behalf.   We are also doing some press releases to inform the public of our efforts.

    

You have all expressed how important it is to keep Picacho open through your e-mails and contact with park staff.

If we can get past this major hurdle of keeping the park open this year, we would focus on supporting efforts to lower costs and increase revenue for next year.  Many of you have suggested ways of doing this.  Friends4Picacho would provide a needed level of support to make that happen. For example, one of the largest expenses for the park is the diesel fuel to run the generators. We have several people and organizations already looking at ways to fund a solar system.  Other suggestions are providing kayaks for rent, as well as cabins of some sort.  

Our main focus right now is to keep the park open, whatever it takes, and then progress from that point. We have one month to raise $60,586.00.  In just four months we have accomplished a lot. Starting with a small group of people meeting in February, to becoming a non-profit organization with a growing membership. With all of us helping, we should be able to get through this next step.  

Also, if anyone has any resources for funding that we could help pursue, please let us know.