Since its founding in 1993, the mission of the Alabama Coastal Foundation (ACF) has been to improve and protect Alabama’s coastal environment.

Today, with the foundation celebrating its 30th anniversary, it continues working to fulfill that mission with three main pillars in mind: cooperation, education and participation.

“It is literally in our mission statement. Inclusive environmental stewardship,” said Mark Berte, ACF executive director. “We work with individuals, nonprofit groups, corporations, and state and federal sectors. We don’t care about political affiliations, as long as you are wanting to do good. We have tons of different volunteer opportunities to enable people to give back to their local environment.”

Alabama Power is among ACF’s supporters.

To celebrate three decades, ACF is kicking off its ‘Throwback Thursday’ series. During the next 30 weeks, the foundation will highlight key work performed throughout the last 30 years, as well as looking forward and considering the foundation’s future for the next 30 years.

“We are using this as an opportunity to help educate even more people about what we do at ACF,” Berte noted.

When asked what those 30 years has in store for ACF, Berte explains: “We are a mission-driven organization. It will still be driven on the mission of protecting and improving our coastal environment. We hope to expand our education program and provide even more volunteer opportunities. We are also trying to protect our underwater forest. Having that as an ecotourism benefit would be really great to see and would be a positive economic development for the area.”

You can help ACF celebrate their 30th anniversary by taking part in upcoming events and initiatives Here are just a sampling of the options:

1. Take a scenic 9-mile bike ride through Gulf State Park trails during ACF’s Good Life Ride.
2. Support the Connect to Your Coast event series where ACF pops up at local breweries across the state.
3. Take part in ACF’s oyster shell recycling program.
4. Help protect Alabama Coast sea turtles at the annual Turtle Fest Sept. 9-10. Turtle Fest provides public education through different stations where people can learn about sea turtle programs in partnership with Gulf State Park.
5. Take part in student educational programs, including Coastal Kids Quiz, Water Festivals and Coastal IQ.
6. Help in Coastal cleanup events.

Learn more about ACF and its activities here.