Support Discover Cayuga Lake
Support & Donations
Support for Discover Cayuga Lake
Donations, Volunteering,
& Fundraising
September 20, 2025
Dear Friends,
We’ve had a fantastic and busy 2025 cruise season on the lake! But we also learned that this will, in all likelihood, be the last season for our beloved Teal. Since 2018, the Teal has been the heart and soul of DCL – bringing in 60% of our annual revenue through tourism and providing a wonderful platform for Floating Classroom educational cruises, youth crew training, community access cruises, and much more.
Over the season, we searched for replacement vessels and, indeed, found and purchased one. Unfortunately, the boat was severely damaged between the time we surveyed it and the time we took ownership – a fact that did not become apparent until we tried to move it in July. Our insurers have been investigating, and we have only now learned that the vessel can be fully repaired and should be available for the spring of 2026.
That’s good news, but the unexpected nature of the situation, coupled with not knowing if we had a viable vessel or still needed to find one, made the launch of a public fundraising campaign impossible up to this point – and that puts DCL in a precarious position! We are introducing a new $130,000 campaign to support the purchase of this boat, and we are already behind schedule. Now, more than ever, we need your support!
~Our 2025 Fundraising Campaigns~
“A New Boat for Everyone!” references a nickname given to Teal by one of our interns, reflecting our philosophy that our boat should provide an opportunity for everyone in our community to be on the lake. No barriers. This fund is designated to ensure that DCL will always be able to provide such a boat, and thus we’ve set up campaign to allow you to contribute directly to help us meet our $65,000 goal for boat financing in 2025. We are currently about halfway there.
“Love Your Lake” supports our popular Community Sunset Cruises, Family Eco-Cruises, Volunteer Monitoring cruises, Community Paddles, and so much more. Contributions to this fund go into our Cayuga Lake Community Access & Education Fund to support programming. The campaign goal for 2025 is also $65,000.
OUR TOTAL FUNDRAISING GOAL FOR 2025 = $130,000
I hope you can support our work this year. We cannot survive without successfully replacing Teal. And of course, cultivating the relationship between our region’s two most important resources -people and water- remains as important as ever. Please help spread the word!
Bill Foster, Executive Director, DCL
Discover Cayuga Lake
look WHAT WE’VE acCOMPLISHED!
Great ways to support DCL!
Help us provide year-round programming and “A Boat for Everyone”!
Tax Deductibility
Discover Cayuga Lake is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Businesses and individuals ready to support DCL’s mission at a higher level, can sponsor interns, community cruise series, or even elements of Teal, itself.
Donate by Credit Card
Donations at any level can be made to our Cayuga Lake Community Fund, which supports programming, materials & improvements for Teal.
Donate By Check
Make checks payable to “Discover Cayuga Lake, Inc.”
Mail to:
Discover Cayuga Lake, Inc.
110 N. Tioga St, Suite 303
Ithaca, NY 14850
Other ways to donate
Purchase a Gift Card or a Season Pass!
DISCOVER THE CAYUGA LAKE REGION
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OTHER WATERSHED RELATED CAUSES TO SUPPORT
Bill Foster, DCL Director’s Personal Recommendation:
Sustainable Tompkins Finger Lakes Climate Fund
– You can join DCL’s Carbon Race Team when you make your carbon offset. www.fingerlakesclimatefund.org
Tom Vawter, Board member & Wells College Prof. Emeritus:
Community Science Institute (CSI)
Laura Falk, Experience! The Finger Lakes & Board Member:
Finger Lakes Land Trust
Lynn Leopold, Founding Board Member:
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network
Steve Kress, DCL Board Member & Puffin Project President:
Friends of Stewart Park
Astrid Jirka, Director of Tourism Initiatives:
The History Center of Tompkins County
Felicia Ansty, Crew Member:
Tompkins County Dog Park (TC Dog)!
www.lightlink.com/tcdog
Jacoba Taylor, Crew Member:
Gayogoho’no Rematriation!
www.Gayogohono.org
Vito Brancato, Crew Member:
The Racker Center
www.racker.org
Shelley Blackler, DCL Volunteer
The Kitchen Theater
www.kitchentheatre.org
We’d Love to hear from you!
Connect
with Us
For Cruises & Charters:
booking@discovercayugalake.org
For Educational Programs:
education@discovercayugalake.org
HOME DOCK:
1000 Allan H. Treman Marina Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
OUR OFFICE:
110 N. Tioga St., Suite 303
Center for History & Culture
Ithaca, NY 14850