Over the past few months, PADI AWARE Foundation® received 150 community grant funding requests – a quadruple increase in under just two years. 

The PADI AWARE® team was thrilled to see such a passionate response, but quickly realized the amount requested from our deserving community has drastically exceeded the non-profit organization’s budget limits. Our goal is to meet this demand head on in a race to raise USD $100,000 in donations in 100 days. We need your help to double the number of grantees that will receive funding. Activate your community to donate at https://donate.padiaware.org/race-to-100-challenge. 

Mr. Chatsakul Kaewpanao, PADI Course Director and General Manager of Big Bubble Dive Resort, a multi-year grantee recipient from Thailand, said it best: “The oceans are too big for one single hand to protect and care for. However, if many small hands work together, our oceans will definitely get better.” 

“The demand that we are seeing is a testimony to how critical the grant program is to our global community to keep fighting to save our ocean planet. Nothing exemplifies our mission more – to drive local action for global ocean conservation – than the grant program. We hope you will donate today to help us help others,” says Danna Moore, Global Director of PADI AWARE Foundation. 

Ocean and community-changing proposals have come in from over 31 countries, spanning almost every continent on the planet. With your support, we can help provide these Ocean Torchbearers with much-needed funding to further their local projects that are driving ocean conservation globally.  

In 2022, PADI AWARE launched its Mission Hub Community Grant Program to accelerate participation, education, and advocacy for ocean protection by helping fund the important work of ocean projects aligned with PADI’s Blueprint for Ocean Action.  

In just two years, PADI AWARE has awarded more than USD $575,000 in grants to directly support 73 projects run by PADI dive shops and community-based non-profits (with more to come in October 2024). These projects address key ocean threats, like climate change, marine debris, marine habitat loss, and marine species protection.  

Your Support Directly Funds Critical Ocean Conservation Initiatives 

From Mexico to Malaysia, many deserving projects need your support – shark protection, seagrass restoration, coral habitat monitoring, and marine debris removal are just some of the projects that need urgent help. Here are just a few examples of how the grant program has provided critical funding to those working to save our ocean through grassroots conservation projects and outcome-driven activities over the past two years.  

This will give our organization a better platform to negotiate with Ugandan authorities and the entire Africa region. I will be happy and proud of PADI AWARE for being the global leading organization in saving and conserving our ecosystem where we derive most of our socio-economic activities and livelihoods.”

– George William Mukasa, Director of Rwenzori Scuba Divers and Salvage Limited, 2023 PADI AWARE Grantee in Uganda

The money from the PADI AWARE grant has allowed us to set up a research center which will allow us to continuously monitor reef health and educate people on the importance of marine conservation and how they can help.”

– Reef Divers, 2023 PADI AWARE Grantee in South Africa 

The funding has allowed me to carry out my project on fisheries regulation in this sensitive and high biodiversity value area… and to create informed citizen-scientists.”

– Ugo Nesto of 7 PERLE A.S.D, 2022 PADI AWARE Grantee in Italy 

The PADI AWARE grant we have received has meant that we have been able to train key volunteers on seahorse survey techniques and obtain a local government permit in Valletta, Central Region, Malta. We believe that the public has the greatest power to protect this species.”

– Kirsty-Jo Muddiman of The Seahorse Trust, 2022 PADI AWARE Grantee in Malta  

Thanks to the PADI AWARE Foundation community grant we can make a big difference for the Coral Point Diving Reef Monitoring Project and our community. This coral conservation [project] will create a long-lasting data-gathering model and increase upcoming divers’ capacity to participate in these initiatives.”

– Natalia Gonzalez, of Coral Point Diving, 2023 PADI AWARE Grantee in Dominican Republic

PADI AWARE support will allow the Red Sea Project to increase its educational and conservation effectiveness. We are finding that students and divers are increasingly looking for educational opportunities and experiences in conservation.”

– Dr. Omar Attum, scientific advisor of The Red Sea Project, 2022 PADI AWARE Grantee in Egypt 

This money from PADI AWARE Foundation allows Florida Keys Dive Center and our community to make a difference in the marine debris that plagues our reef system… It helps to get divers in the water to complete clean-up dives and remove debris from the reef.”

– Seanna Knight, conservation coordinator for Florida Keys Dive Center, 2022 PADI AWARE Grantee in USA

Learn more about the powerful stories of previous PADI AWARE Community Grantees making a difference here.  

Ocean Heroes Need You – and We All Need a Healthy Ocean  

Activate your community to help raise USD $100,000 in 100 days to support PADI AWARE’s Mission Hub Community Grant Program. Every donation, big or small, matters. Direct donations and fundraising efforts that reach USD $100, $300 and $1,000 will receive an exclusive PADI AWARE donor gift as a token of appreciation. But most importantly, your donation is funding critical ocean conservation initiatives that are driving real impact where it’s needed most.  

All who donate, regardless of amount, will be entered to receive a liveaboard dive trip to the Red Sea, Egypt, for one individual, courtesy of Emperor Divers, five-time winner of Tauchen Magazine’s prestigious “Best Liveaboard in the Red Sea” award.*  

Donate directly or start a fundraiser! PADI AWARE Foundation now has a fun and easy option to set up your own personalized fundraising page. Set a fundraising goal and share it with your friends, family, divers, and community. As the fundraiser, you will receive the gift for fundraisers that reach USD $100, $300 and $1,000. Those who contribute to your fundraiser will be entered to win the Red Sea liveaboard trip, too! See what others have done here and set up your own donation page here.  

To learn more about PADI AWARE Foundation’s ocean impact, click here. 

*See contest details, terms, and conditions here. 

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