The Marine Mammal Stranding Center in New Jersey was asking for donations this Giving Tuesday. Thanks to a surge of donations, the organization was able to raise over $49,000.
Many donors said that they saw their story when it aired on NBC10 and on the Nightly News with Lester Holt on Tuesday.
The center is dedicated to rescuing all marine mammals as well as sea turtles.
It was an urgent appeal for donations as the organization wraps up an especially busy and difficult year. Officials at the center say that they were “struggling to keep up with our ever-growing expenses.”
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The head of the non-profit says it was dealing with a $40,000 budget deficit and one of the toughest years since its founding in 1978.
"The money coming in is not keeping up with the expenses that are going out," the Marine Mammal Stranding Center director Sheila Dean had told NBC10.
A significant reason was because of costs stemming from the surge of whale strandings and deaths along the Jersey Shore earlier this year.
Long hours required lots of overtime for employees and the center also put many miles on its vehicles.
"We've had to make repairs on equipment, we've has to replace equipment and we’ve had to make upgrades," the center's stranding coordinator Jay Pagel said. "Because of the increase, we're doing a lot more digging, we're looking for a lot more information, doing a lot more testing."
They say a lot of the related expenses have also been adding up, especially with protective equipment. Everything from gloves, boots and overalls.
The center took to Facebook to share the story of one seal pup rescued earlier this year.
The center investigates what causes the deaths of marine mammals in the state of New Jersey in an effort to determine the health of our oceans.
"There's a lot to it. People don't realize how much it takes," Dean said.
"Anything you donate today will help us tomorrow," Pagel explained.
The staff is experiencing a temporary lull before the start of seal stranding season which is likely just weeks away.
The rescue center is located in Brigantine, New Jersey. You can donate by clicking here.
