Who’s Your Favorite Valentine?

Give a Manatee Gift Adoption This Year

Although the entire Foster family is interested in water conservation, Alane says it’s her son, Gray, who has always adored manatees. (l-r in the photo, Gray and Lyon.) The close brothers are avid surfers, kiteboarders, and freedivers.

For further information, contact:
Janice Nearing
Director of Public Relations
Phone: (407) 539-0990
Email: jnearing@savethemanatee.org

For Immediate Release: January 12, 2018

Note: A high resolution jpeg (300 dpi) of a manatee image, as well as a photo of Gray and Lyon Foster, are available upon request.

Out of the goodness of your heart, Adopt-A-Manatee this Valentine’s Day from Save the Manatee Club for cherished family and friends. The manatees in the Club’s popular adoption programs are real, living manatees with known histories.

Handcrafted manatee heart ornament

For $25, Save the Manatee Club sends a personalized adoption packet, which includes an adoption certificate, photo and life history of a real Florida manatee, and a fact-filled membership handbook. Four print newsletters and six enewsletters are also sent to gift recipients throughout the year. Adopt at the $35 level or above and an endearing Rowley heart ornament is also included with the packet (while supplies last). Shipping is free within the United States. The manatees up for adoption can be viewed on the Club’s website.

Alane Foster from Palm Beach, Florida adopted “Ilya” last year as a Valentine’s gift for her son, Lyon. “My youngest son, Gray, is a big manatee fan, and he suggested we adopt a manatee for his older brother, Lyon,” explained Alane. “Ilya was perfect because he was stuck up north in cold, dark waters and had to be rescued and sent back home to Florida. Lyon is a Florida boy who attends a school in Connecticut, and he can certainly identify with Ilya around February every year!”

Alane said Lyon loved and appreciated the gift, as the brothers are very close, and Lyon felt it was a meaningful, thoughtful gift from his family since “manatees are almost an obsession with his brother, Gray.”

Save the Manatee Club was founded in 1981 by former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator, Bob Graham and singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett. The Club’s mission is to protect manatees and their habitat. For the past 36 years, Save the Manatee Club, an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has educated millions around the world about imperiled manatees and the threats to their long-term survival. (The last two years have set records for watercraft mortality.) Through the adoption program, many more are learning about manatees and how they can help.

“Manatees are so charismatic that any person with a heart would want to protect them,” says Alane. “It takes a dedicated and organized effort to ensure their future because manatees and their habitat are so threatened. We feel good about supporting Save the Manatee Club as their grassroots efforts take on more than just education. They also address the manatees’ needs on the legislative end.”

For more information about manatees and adopting a real manatee as a Valentine’s Day gift, visit Save the Manatee Club’s web site, or call 1-800-432-JOIN (5646). Learn about the Club’s mission and accomplishments.