Greeting from Jamie Busiel, President

The past three years I have been a volunteer at the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park. My love for animals has been a driving force my whole life, to learn more, do more and get involved.

The Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park has been a fascinating new venture. Working with amazing, knowledgeable rangers and volunteers has taught me so much about Wildlife and Florida’s natural beauty. If you are seeking a rewarding experience, I encourage you to volunteer at the Park. You will find a great, giving family at the Park. I look forward to serving as the Friends’ president for the coming year.

The Friends will be working with Park Staff during upcoming events, including the haunted Tram Rides on the evenings of October 30 and 31. This has been very successful and a fun event. Our annual Celebration of Lights will be held from December 18th through December 26th. Every year this event becomes bigger, brighter and more exciting. We will also be having our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 11. In addition, the Friends will be holding our annual membership picnic during the year.

The money raised by our Friends organization during these events is used for the enrichment of the animals and improvements to visitor facilities. All money collected from memberships, donation boxes or private donations is used in our Park. Please stop by and see the improvements that your money has contributed.

A few of our accomplishments this year:

• This year we have finalized the new Felburn Wildlife Care Center. This multi-million dollar project was made possible by generous donations from Ellie Schiller and the Felburn Foundation. In honor of all Ellie Schiller has done for Florida State Parks, the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park was renamed The Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.
• The Red Wolf exhibit was designed and constructed in just a few months. The Homosassa Wildlife Park is proud to be one of the very few Parks in the Country to be approved to have the endangered Red Wolves. The Red Wolves arrived this year and are happy and healthy in their new home.
• The Friends have made the decision to operate the WildSide Café and concessions through the Park. The Café will be a great source of income for the Friends of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.
• Many of the walkways and bridges throughout the Park have been replaced and widened for better accessibility for our guests in wheelchairs. This continues to be an important priority to the Park and the Friends.
• The Friends of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park continue to support Outreach/interpretive and educational programs. The Friends purchased custom, rolling carts for educational programs on the boardwalks.

The Friends of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, Inc., is a non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible. If you have not joined the Friends of Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, please consider joining us. Membership includes free admission of the Park on the second Saturday of each month for your entire immediate family. Our quarterly newsletter includes the dates of the membership picnic and future events.

Thank you for visiting our website, and we hope to see you at the Park soon.

Sincerely,

Jamie Busiel