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Dear Friends!

It’s truly hard to believe that we are approaching the end of our first full year of work at Blue Legacy. And what a year it has been!

When we landed tired but excited last February in India to kick off our journey across five continents to chronicle water stories, it was still a dream that we would ever hit our goal of 100 million impressions with the films we planned to make. But we did. Matter of fact, the nearly 40 short films produced so far from Expedition: Blue Planet passed the 100 million media impressions mark before the end of summer and tacked on two finalist nominations at the Jackson Hole Film Festival. And our publishing partnerships continue to grow every day. From National Geographic and Discovery to CNN International, Current TV, MNN, and so many more, the reach of our distributed media network has enabled us to return an unbelievable amount of voice on water issues for every dollar invested by sponsors. Next week we will be announcing a new distribution partnership that will bring an additional 30,000 sites into our publishing network—giving Blue Legacy placement on some of the highest trafficked news and information sites on the web and a perfect platform from which to fulfill our mission of “shaping the global conversation to include water as one of the defining issues of the 21st century.”

And that message on water has never been stronger. Thanks to support from the Blackstone Ranch Institute, we just completed the first of our annual Water Planet Dialogues with the Aspen Institute. The guiding principles and key issues identified by this amazing gathering of some of the brightest minds in science, policy, water management and advocacy will guide our projects for 2010 and serve as the key message points of our films, columns, interactive projects and live presentations.

True to our second focus of collaborating with other projects and organizations to strengthen the conversation on water, we’ve taken on significant roles with several high profile global initiatives. Alexandra has been named the Global Water Advisor and Spokesperson for the Live Earth Run for Water—an initiative to raise awareness and funds for the global water crisis during a 24-hour worldwide event next April that has already seen more than 40 countries sign on to host runs, concerts and events. In this same spirit, we will be joining a variety of celebrities and environmental advocates in Africa this January to support the Summit on the Summit project targeting water issues on that continent. When you add a new web site (due to launch January 1, 2010), Alexandra’s first book (This Blue Planet - Penguin Group on shelves April 2011), discussions on a groundbreaking new interactive platform on water data, a second book project under discussions with a major publisher, planning two major Expedition projects in 2010, and a host of speaking engagements…it’s been a truly amazing and incredibly busy year. And if you could see the calendar somewhere beneath the layers of Post-It notes, next year is going to be even better yet.

… Which is where you come in. Like all non-profit organizations, we are closing out the end of the year with grateful hearts and empty pockets. As you make end-of-year financial plans or join with your family or employee group to celebrate holidays, we would ask that you please consider helping us finish the year out right. Your 100-percent tax-deductible gift in any amount would be greatly appreciated. A gift of $1,000, $500 or even $100 would go a long way towards helping us reach our goal of raising $65,000 before December 31.

Please feel free to contact us with questions, ideas, comments, critiques, or to find out ways in which you can get involved—we truly value the feedback we’ve received so far and would be excited for you to be a part of this very important work and wonderful adventure with us.

Sincerely,

Alexandra Cousteau and Jonathan Smith
(405) 213-5077

Checks made payable to “Blue Legacy International” can be mailed to:

Blue Legacy International
The Ocean Foundation
1990 M St. NW, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20036

Blue Legacy International is a not-for-profit project of The Ocean Foundation - a 501(c)3.