San Francisco Baykeeper encourages attorneys to nominate our nonprofit organization for Cy Pres awards. Cy Pres awards fund Baykeeper’s science, advocacy, education, and public interest litigation to safeguard San Francisco Bay from pollution. Baykeeper is dedicated to creating a healthy ecosystem that protects the Bay, its watershed, and local communities from pollution, as well as ensuring safe recreation in the water and along Bay shorelines.
Baykeeper is an ideal choice for Cy Pres funds from matters involving issues of environmental and public health, safe recreation, water quality, pollution, and the public trust. Reducing pollution in San Francisco Bay benefits the health of the entire Bay Area. We work to make the Bay clean and safe, so that it can be a source of healthy recreation available to all residents. Baykeeper defends the Bay’s water quality from pollutants that include petrochemicals, flame retardants, mercury, lead, pathogens, pesticides, and numerous other toxic and harmful materials.
Baykeeper also works to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise, to maintain healthy wetlands, and to help protect shoreline communities from flooding. We are a leader in reducing shipping industry pollution, such as oil spills and invasive species, and in cleaning up pollution from smaller boats.
Our work directly benefits residents and visitors who enjoy sports and outdoor activities around the Bay Area, including fishing, swimming, sailing, kayaking, surfing, stand up paddleboarding, and kiteboarding in San Francisco Bay and nearby ocean waters; those who visit Bay tributaries and shorelines for birding, jogging, biking, and hiking; and those who commute on the Bay by ferry. Our work also benefits the health of low-income residents who fish from the Bay for food.
Founded in 1989, San Francisco Baykeeper has been the premiere watchdog of the water quality of San Francisco Bay for a quarter century. Today, we are tackling the greatest threats to the health of the Bay. Our goal is to make San Francisco Bay a waterway where wildlife flourishes, fish are safe to eat, residents enjoy healthy recreation, and unpolluted beauty can be seen from every shore.
Cy Pres are funds in class action cases and other legal proceedings that cannot be distributed to the class members or intended beneficiaries of the fund. Courts can distribute these remaining funds to appropriate nonprofit organizations whose missions reflect the concerns of the underlying class-action case, or whose work will further the class benefits provided by a settlement.
For more information, or to arrange a Cy Pres award, please contact Sejal Choksi-Chugh, Baykeeper Executive Director, sejal@baykeeper.org, 510-735-9700 Ext. 106.