FPL Donates $1 Million-Plus Capital Expansion Gift to Loggerhead Marinelife Center
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) continues its longstanding support of Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s mission of sea turtle and ocean conservation by donating a leadership gift of more than $1 million to the Sea Turtle Hospital as part of the Center’s Waves of Progress expansion campaign.
The noteworthy gift was announced to a sold-out crowd at LMC’s Ninth Annual Go Blue Awards Luncheon by Eric Silagy, president and chief executive officer at FPL.
The gift will double the size of the enhanced outdoor FPL Sea Turtle Hospital Yard at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, allowing the Center to treat more injured sea turtles, engage with more visitors and students and add new FPL “Solar Trees,” providing clean solar energy to the power grid.
“FPL is one of the largest clean energy providers in the world, with a long-standing commitment to environmental conservation,” said Jack E. Lighton, LMC president & CEO. “For over three decades, FPL has supported our Center here in Juno Beach, located adjacent to one of the planet’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches. With FPL’s donation, LMC has raised 50 percent of our total $14 million goal in just eight months. The support we are receiving from our community and corporate partners is truly humbling.” 
The expanded FPL Sea Turtle Hospital Yard will also feature new exhibits – one showcasing FPL’s Loggerhead Solar Energy Center and one showcasing Manatee Lagoon – An FPL Eco-Discovery CenterTM in Riviera Beach, Florida.
“Supporting programs at our facilities or local institutions that benefit the environment is one of the ways FPL contributes to the sustainability of communities where our employees work and live. That’s why we work closely with federal, state and community organizations such as Loggerhead Marinelife Center to help minimize impacts on natural resources and protect the Sunshine State’s wild treasures such as endangered sea turtles,” said Silagy, president and CEO, FPL. “Loggerhead Marinelife Center has a significant role to play in educating the next generation about the importance of conservation and caring for this planet’s special creatures.”
Ten years ago, when LMC expanded into its current facility, FPL generously supported the expansion with a leadership gift that helped the construction of the Center’s original FPL Sea Turtle Hospital Yard. In just 10 years, LMC has significantly amplified its conservation and education impact with FPL’s support.
Since 2007, the FPL Sea Turtle Hospital Yard at LMC has:
- Received and educated more than two million guests
- Rehabilitated more than 1,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles which were later released into the wild
- Saved and relocated more than 10,000 sea turtle hatchlings
- “Welcomed” more than one million virtual guests to the FPL Live Sea Turtle Web Cam, showcasing the hospital’s life-saving efforts in real time
In addition to both transformational leadership gifts, FPL team members have donated more than 1,000 volunteer hours at the Center, particularly helping to renovate areas of LMC during the company’s annual Power to Care Day.
