The Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation volunteers are friends and family of Andrew Harris and what he believed in and stood for.

We work to honor Andrew’s memory and preserve his legacy by building artificial reefs in Palm Beach County that support the Foundation’s mission of  “enhancing and protecting the marine environment in northern Palm Beach County”.

In the nine years since Andrew passed the Foundation has raised and spent over $2 million and built mile long artificial reef trails in 58′ of water offshore of Jupiter and in 80′ of water offshore of Juno Beach. We have also donated 15 beautiful 7′ tall modules to the Blue Heron Bridge Snorkel Trail at Phil Foster Park (recently voted the “Best Shore Dive in the United States”) and a 17′ tall replica of the Jupiter Lighthouse which is on our Jupiter trail.

All of our deployments are conducted in the calmer summer months. We have deployed 42 bargeloads of material building our reefs!

100% of Contributions Go To Building Artificial Reefs

I think it is important that those who donate to the foundation know how much of their money will actually go towards the contracted cost of building artificial reefs. Knowing exactly how their money is going to be used makes it easier for a donor to decide to be generous (or not). The Foundation has many annual donors who fund our reef building.

Public partners and donors include Palm Beach County, the Town of Jupiter, and the Jupiter Inlet District. Organizations like the Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County (they run the huge Palm Beach Boat show, among other things) are big donors. Foundations from Miami to upstate New York make large donations, and of course there are many local foundations who also make generous donations. Local businesses like Al Packer Ford, Engel Coolers and Parker Yannette Design Group make annual contributions. There are a lot of local residents who donate personally, and we appreciate every one. A large recent donation from the attorney who handled our 501C3 setup in the first days nine years ago, sponsored the lunch at our golf tournament a couple months later and coined our “Building Artificial Reefs For Life” byline felt like a particularly important endorsement of all we have done from the very beginning to the present. The fact that you are reading this is thanks to our newest volunteer, Anthony Zarro, who recreated our website which went live today after 6 months offline!

We are thankful to Palm Beach County for being our biggest partner and grateful that the county designated the second Saturday of December, in perpetuity, to be Andrew  “Red” Harris Artificial Reef Day”. The Town of Jupiter added to this special day each year by donating it’s beachfront Civic Center to hold an annual event for the Foundation’s friends, and reserved it for us for the next 10 years!

The Andrew Red Harris Foundation is an IRS-approved 501C3 so donations are tax deductible. Please check with your accountant to verify your personal situation, but generally speaking those that itemize their personal deductions can deduct contributions to non profit foundations. Those who take the IRS basic personal deduction may be able to tax deduct their contribution by donating through a corporation.

If you have questions or would like to get involved please contact us. If you would like to contribute you can do so through the website or by mailing a check. Many of our supporters do so through their employers charitable donation programs.

Scott Harris
President

The Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation
Building Artificial Reefs for Life