The Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies at Cooper’s Cove is home to so many of us. It’s where we first slept out under the stars, climbed our first mountains, or learned how to wash a dish and unclog a toilet (with staff members cheering us on). The Cove is where we learned how to be alone, and how to be together.
Maybe the Cove is where you had your first transcendent experience in nature, softly capturing a salamander (with wet hands) from under a stream rock. Or, perhaps it’s where you learned what a green bean tastes like fresh off the vine, seasoned with summer sunshine. The Cove may have been where you first heard a Wood thrush serenade the sunset.
Vini Schoene made this place home for all of us, and not only through shared experiences, but through the community she fostered. Hers is a world built upon the bedrock of a Naturalist school of thought — where we learned how to think (not what to think) while enjoying sublime sessions spent observing nature first hand and sharing that newfound knowledge with our friends. For many, the Cove is where we first felt truly comfortable being ourselves.
The gifts Vini has given us are innumerable.
Her legacy will continue on in all of us — through our work as teachers, artists, parents, environmental conservationists and professionals of every stripe — and in the alumni who return every year to keep the community thriving for the next generation.
Vini’s lessons have helped us define ourselves and our place in the world. And we not only carry her lessons, her lessons carry us.
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In this season of giving thanks, we wanted to create a channel for the Burgundy community to show their gratitude for all that Vini has done for us, while simultaneously preserving the legacy she worked so hard to build.
Over the last few years, Vini and David have led a team of current BCWS staff, alumni, and Burgundy trustees through the planning and development process for a new Main Lodge that befits the BCWS program and ethos described above. The existing lodge is structurally beyond repair and must be replaced. Part of Vini’s vision and enduring legacy will be ensuring that the facilities are updated and maintained so that the Cove can be enjoyed for years to come.
In accordance with Vini’s efforts, and at the request of alumni like us, Burgundy has established the Vini Schoene BCWS Legacy Fund (the “Vini Fund”) to help finance the construction of the new Main Lodge, as well as meet other financial needs specific to the Cove (and the Cove, alone).
Similarly, many of you are familiar with the Cooper’s Cove Conservation Fund (the “CCCF”). The CCCF’s mission is “to preserve the health, serenity and safety of Cooper’s Cove Wildlife Sanctuary and those who inhabit it.” The money within the CCCF is explicitly used to purchase land surrounding the Cove to ensure that it is not developed in a manner that interferes with the Cove’s overarching mission.
In Vini’s honor, we humbly invite you to contribute to either the CCCF or the Vini Fund. While working in concert with the Burgundy community at-large, Vini has expressed a desire for people to give where their heart lies.
Supporting either fund will help ensure the Cove seamlessly endures while continuing to carry Vini’s lessons.
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The hope with this effort is to present a collective, large donation on behalf of the “entire” BCWS community, or — at least — everyone we could get in touch with. To that end, we have established three avenues to participate in this effort:
We have created a GoFundMe page to support the fledgling Vini Fund, which you can access here. This option is for those who feel most comfortable using an established service to donate. Please note that GoFundMe charges a 2.9% fee on all donations.
If you feel comfortable sending a direct donation via Venmo, each of Daniel (@Daniel-Marner), Ethan (@Ethan-Stone), Jessie (@JessieHogue), and Nora (@Elinor-Ives) will happily receive them and work hand-in-hand with Burgundy to ensure they are put toward the final donation (i.e. what’s raised through GoFundMe). If donating this way, please denote which fund you prefer to contribute to.
However, we completely appreciate and understand that some might prefer to give individually, need to be cognizant of tax considerations when making a donation of this type, or for any other reason would like to donate to one of the funds independently. While we want to emphasize that this effort is being led by BCWS alumni, if you would prefer to make your own personal contribution, Burgundy has asked that we direct you here.
There is an option (on the second page) to direct gifts toward either the CCCF or the Vini Schoene BCWS Legacy Fund. We humbly ask that any personal donations be designated as such to ensure they are received appropriately. Furthermore, if you want to ensure the school is able to fuse these contributions with our efforts through GoFundMe and Venmo, please denote that in the ‘Notes’ section of that page.
Thanks for all your time spent considering this effort and any further time spent forwarding this along to the many we have not included here. Should you have absolutely any questions at all, please do not hesitate to submit inquiries to BCWSLegacy@gmail.com, and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
With Much Love,
Nora Ives, Jessie Hogue-Morgenstern, Ethan Stone, and Daniel Marner