WDC receives grant from the Sheehan Family Companies for conservation and education

Whale and Dolphin Conservation recently received a $450,000 grant from The Sheehan Family Companies.  The grant supports work protecting humpback whales and critically endangered North Atlantic right whales through a new education initiative. This three-year partnership will help further WDC’s mission of using science, advocacy, and outreach to protect whales and dolphins by expanding its existing outreach programs and creating a dedicated education project.

According to WDC, protecting whales is not simply a noble gesture, but an essential means to increasing the planet’s climate resiliency.  “Whales play a key role in the health of our ocean and our planet.” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, Executive Director of WDC’s North American office. “Thanks to the Sheehan Family Companies, we now have a way to educate a broad audience about the role whales play in all of our lives.”

The Sheehan Family Companies is a diversified beverage wholesale organization that distributes a wide array of the finest beer, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages that the world has to offer. Through four generations of family ownership and one hundred and twenty-two years in business, the Sheehan Family Companies has grown to be one of the top fifty privately owned businesses in Massachusetts as well as one of the ten largest beer wholesalers in the country. This has been made possible through the company’s mission of partnering with world-class people, who produce world-class brands, with world-class potential. Based in Kingston, MA, the family-owned business is committed to furthering a long and multi-generational tradition of charitable giving.

Founded in 1987, WDC opened its North America headquarters in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 2005. WDC is guided by a simple principle – whales play a critical role in the health of our marine and global ecosystems. Their work includes educating the public, advising governments and other non-governmental organizations, field research and conservation project.

The Sheehan Family Companies aim to make a difference with its philanthropy by supporting nonprofit organizations working to protect the environment through conservation and water protection and improve education for underserved segments of the population. From its base in Kingston, the company has expanded to include operating affiliates in 13 states. The Sheehan Family Companies focuses on giving in geographic areas where it does business.

“WDC is excited to partner with SFC to expand our outreach and education programs,” said Asmutis-Silvia. “It’s a perfect complement to our policy work, and more people need to know that if we save the whales, we save the world.”