For several years, I had agonized over the relative costs and benefits that were associated with Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) establishing a separate, support foundation. The uncertainty was created by a semantic difficulty - the Laboratory is technically already a 501(c)3 institution and it appeared confusing to have two entities entangled with each other.

But when Ms. Freda Roberts chose not to run again for Revenue Commissioner in Mobile County, I felt that it might be worth the effort if she would agree to head the first DISL Foundation “Board of Trustees.”  She had visited the Laboratory on a number of occasions, and I felt that she had a good impression of our efforts. The main thought in my mind however, was that she was certainly the most widely-respected elected official in the county. She had been innovative and aggressive in running a department that no one can be fond of – tax collector, that is. But if the Laboratory was to enter the arena of fundraising in the local community, she seemed to be a truly logical choice – a trusted and well-liked money manager who hadn’t been afraid to ask for financial help in being re-elected.

At any rate, after reflecting briefly on the mission that I described, she accepted the responsibility and the DISL Foundation was created. The challenge grew almost immediately with the announcement of a Kresge Foundation Endowment Challenge Grant that would provide $1 for every $2 that a private foundation could provide. The express purpose of the Kresge Challenge was to create and expand the capacity of local institutions to raise funds from the public and private sectors. The DISL Foundation was little more than a gleam in her eye at this point, but it did seem to be the perfect catalyst for the formation of the new foundation.

Established institutions like University of South Alabama and Springhill College met their goals immediately, since they already had the advantage of established fundraising networks, but Ms. Roberts and the Board of Trustees had to do it from scratch, inventing a wheel that would hopefully be turned many times in the future. The endowment fund now stands at over $300,000 as a result of the Foundation’s efforts!

Under her enthusiastic and dedicated guidance, Mrs. Roberts and the DISL Foundation not only met the Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant, they have maintained a popular annual arts-themed fundraiser, Cocktails with the Critters; organized for many years a Halloween fundraiser at the Sea Lab known as “Spooktacular”, and have an annual mail-out solicitation on behalf of the Laboratory and the Foundation. These activities have raised the image of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab locally and the status of the DISL Foundation as an active foundation that promotes the wise stewardship of the Gulf, which she so treasured.