Keefer Brown preparing to handover his gift
(pictured here with his mother, Kim Brown and Seward City manager, Dr Phillip Oates).
Today we had the privilege to host a remarkable young Alaskan. Twelve year old Keefer Brown, of Wasilla, Alaska presented the Alaska SeaLife Center with a donation of $1,300 which he has raised over the past summer to promote harbor seal research and rehabilitation. Keefer was accompanied by his parents and grandparents who helped him to design and market a range of candles which he had decorated with items he found on the beaches of Seldovia, such as shells and seaweed. Keefer spent much of this summer chatting with visitors and tourists alike at the Herring Bay Mercantile in Seldovia and at the Seldovia Harbor ramp selling his candle creations.
Keefer's Candles (photo courtesy Kim Brown)
Initially, Keefer’s goal was to raise $50 to “adopt” a harbor seal through the ASLC SeaStars program. However, once he discovered the interest of visitors and the community in marine issues, he quickly raised his fundraising target by several orders of magnitude. Such was his success in fundraising that he also managed to convince visitors to also donate to marine research and education! He recounts with his wry sense of humor how he had to explain to one visitor just what a donation actually means…. clearly he is an amazing communicator, an exceptional entrepreneur and a practicing philanthropist.
Keefer learning the tricks of the trade - a budding mammalogist in the making?
Keefer’s is most passionate about protecting the environment and its wildlife. He walks the talk in the way he lives his life – he makes healthy food choices, practices recycling and uses strict criteria to determine what he purchases so as to avoid over consumption. His absolute favorite animals are harbor seals, although he also learned today, while visiting with Maxwell and Mocha, that spotted seals can also be pretty cute.
Keefer, his parents and our talented Mammal staff learning about harbor seals
His mother, Kim Brown describes Keefer as a “wonderful young man who is always ready with a smile and possesses an unfailing kindness that touches everyone he meets.” Those qualities were evident in abundance as we spent the day wending our way around the SeaLife Center – he was enthralled by everything that we do and has endless enthusiasm to learn more. He faces a tough choice as he moves forward with his career education – paleontology or marine biology or both?
Keefer enjoying the antics of our harbor seals in their main exhibit
Words cannot adequately express just how moving it was to receive this generous gift from Keefer – the closest analog to how I think we all felt during this morning’s ceremony was that we were witnessing a true environmental hero emerging just like being ringside at the annual CNN heroes program – Keefer is an inspiration to us all. Perhaps Mayor Willard Dunham, who has been a driving force in establishing the Center, summed it up best when he noted with just a hint of a proud tear in the corner of his eye, that “seeing Keefer’s commitment today reminds us all of why the SeaLife center was built and of how inspirational it has become to young Alaskans”.
Keefer with Seward Mayor and long serving ASLC Board Member, Willard Dunham
I have asked Keefer and his parents to be our guests at the 2011 Alaska Marine Gala – I hope you have the chance to meet him there.
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