Donating Articles

Support Us – Articles about donating to Friends.

Community Cider tasting event benefiting Friends of the Apostle Islands draws a crowd

Community Cider tasting event benefiting Friends of the Apostle Islands draws a crowd

"It's a really special thing. 
It's not just a cider, as wonderful as it is. It's really, first of all, a taste of the Lake Superior region. There are the breezes that blow off the lake and through the islands, that touch the apples and pears and infiltrate into the cider that Phil creates. 
And even more so than that, it's a taste of community." With those words, Friends of the Apostle Islands Executive Director Jeff Rennicke kicked off the Community Cider tasting event at the Bayfield Winery on Saturday, June 6th.Community Cider artwork by Erica Peterson - Norm Okerstrom photoThe tasting...

Sip and Support Friends of the Apostle Islands at the Community Cider tasting event June 6

Sip and Support Friends of the Apostle Islands at the Community Cider tasting event June 6

Sip & Support! Join Friends of the Apostle Islands, Saturday June 6th from 12-2 p.m. at the Bayfield Winery and Blue Ox Cider for a tasting of the 2026 Community Cider. Thanks to Blue Ox for chosing Friends of the Apostle Islands as this year's recipient, Erica Peterson for designing the logo, and all the community members who helped pick apples and pears. This Community Cider is a very balanced, semi-dry cider made from all donated fruit. The proceeds from bottle sales and glass pours will be going directly to Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. There will be...

Chip up in May for our Wave Watch boater safety program at Chequamegon Food Co-op

Chip up in May for our Wave Watch boater safety program at Chequamegon Food Co-op

Can you hear me Major Tom? Our Wave Watch Buoy (nicknamed "David Buoy") is making a guest appearance during the month of May at the Chequamegon Food Co-op in Ashland, highlighting a chance for shoppers to "chip up" in support of Wave Watch. "David" is one of 5 solar-powered  buoys monitoring wave height, period, direction, and water temperature giving boaters real-time information, right when they need it, for five important boating locations within the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The co-ops “Round Up for Partners” is a program that gives shoppers the option to “round up” to the next...

Together we support the park we love on Giving Tuesday 2024

Together we support the park we love on Giving Tuesday 2024

Giving Tuesday began with a simple idea: create a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. Last year, Giving Tuesday raised $3.1 billion in the United States alone. This year, we hope to inspire you to support the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, through Friends of the Apostle Islands.These are exciting times for the park and for the quarter million people who visit every year. In 2024, Friends launched the safe boating campaign called Wave...

The picture of support: how you can support the park you love and enjoy the beauty of original island photography

The picture of support: how you can support the park you love and enjoy the beauty of original island photography

Photographer Peter Wagner fell in love with the Apostle Islands through the lens of his camera. Now, the Friends Business Member and owner of Superior Photographic would like to give back to the islands through offering his art in support of Friends of the Apostle Islands.Purchase any of Peter Wagner’s work through his Superior Photographic website between now and the end of the year and you will both receive a 20% discount on his work and trigger another 20% donation to the projects and programs of Friends of the Apostle Islands.For Wagner, his photographic journey began more than 53 years...

Silent auction of “Sunrise in Quiet Cove” watercolor painting ends – congratulations to the winning bidder

Silent auction of “Sunrise in Quiet Cove” watercolor painting ends – congratulations to the winning bidder

Update: Thanks to our friends who bid on "Sunrise in Quiet Cove" during our recent silent auction. Bidding is now closed. Read about the winning bid here.Thanks to the generosity of local watercolorist Dale Whittaker, you may now bid on this original 11.5 x 14.5 inch painting in an 18 x 22 inch frame, "Sunrise in Quiet Cove." Dale's painting depicts the brownstone cliffs, pines, and clear water of Lake Superior in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. He created this work while he was on the water with Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke. Jeff captured the moment and talked with Dale...

Celebrate the northern lights by giving back to the night sky

Celebrate the northern lights by giving back to the night sky

They were beautiful, one of the greatest aurora displays in decades with the sun sending at least five immense CME’s (coronal mass ejections) streaming towards the earth, creating a G5 Auroral Storm that made the northern lights visible to a wider swath of the world than we have seen in decades.Northern lights over the Apostle Islands - Jeff Rennicke photosThe sky danced. Not just over the Apostle Islands but as far south as Florida and Texas here in the U.S. and around the world. They shone over the battlefield in Ukraine. The sky glowed pink in Tyrol, Austria. Airline passengers looked out...

Support your Apostle Islands before the sun sets on 2023

Support your Apostle Islands before the sun sets on 2023

There is still time to add your support of Friends to your year-end giving. Your support at this time of year is vital to the success of the programs we do and the work you help us accomplish in the islands you love.Milky Way over Sand Isand lighthouseTending the Gaylord Nelson GardenHelp protect the dark skies of the Apostle Islands. Help young people experience their beauty, history, and adventure through your support of Island School. Help continue the on-going accessibility projects of the National Park Service in your islands through our Access for All program. Help our volunteers tend...

You did it! Access for All campaign goal reached for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

You did it! Access for All campaign goal reached for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

One more stroke of the paddle and the bow touches the shore. You did it. The long journey is complete. With your help, Friends of the Apostle Islands has reached its fundraising goal of $325,000 for its Access for All initiative. “It takes all of us to make a difference,” Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke said in announcing the achievement, “and with the help of nearly 200 individual donors and more than a dozen caring, supportive corporate sponsors, we did it together.” The Access for All campaign is to date the largest effort of its kind in the history of Friends of the Apostle...

DOUBLE your impact during the Access for All Matching Grant Challenge!

DOUBLE your impact during the Access for All Matching Grant Challenge!

Double is better: If you give right now to the Access for All initiative of Friends of the Apostle Islands, your impact will be doubled by the Matching Grant Challenge offered through the support of the Black Spruce Fund. Double your efforts to create access to the beauty and adventure of the Apostle Islands. Double your efforts to help the one-in-five Americans with mobility concerns, vision, hearing, even cognitive issues that make a national park adventure difficult without your help. Double your donation today with the Matching Challenge Grant and double the difference you can make, for...