SoFo Founder Andy Sabin South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center
Summer Gala on July 29th: Andy Needs Help To Save the Planet
Andy Sabin is excited about the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center’s 34th annual Summer Gala on July 29th. “We’re honoring the two founders of Patagonia, Malinda and Yvon Chouinard, and my friend Dan Emmett, a very important environmentalist,” said the philanthropist and environmentalist who founded the SoFo Museum in Bridgehampton.
“We’re very pleased to have Basil Seggos, the New York State Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, who was also brave enough to have driven two ambulances of the 108 we’ve delivered to Odesa to help the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Fund,” Sabin added. “He’s a very brave guy, in addition to someone who cares about the environment. He visited my rattlesnake den in New York State.”
Secret Timber Rattlesnake Den
Rattlesnake den? “Well, you laugh,” Sabin said, “but it’s the largest population of timber rattlesnakes in the world.” Sabin bought the land to preserve the snakes’ existence because at one time there was a bounty on rattlesnakes upstate. “They would give people $10 a snake for every one they killed. There was a famous collector, Rudy Komarek, who almost single-handedly got rid of the whole population of timber rattlesnakes in the state of New York.”
The rattlesnakes are thriving, he assured us. “Last week, my guy went to the den, and he saw 164. I’m going next week.” Just anyone, however, cannot visit the den, because the location is secret, to allow the creatures to live and breed in peace. “Believe it or not, there are 22 rattlesnake dens within 45 minutes of Manhattan,” Sabin continued. “People don’t realize how close to New York City rattlesnakes live. They were on Long Island. In fact, the last one that I have a record of was killed in Bridgehampton in 1938. Long Island is not exactly rattlesnake habitat, but we did have them here at one time. Anyway, that being said, we’re excited about the gala.” The invitations were about to go out when we spoke for this article in May, but they’d already raised a lot of money from sponsors, advocates, and patrons.
Hands-on Philanthropy – Wide Range of Causes
Environmental issues are just a part of the philanthropic activities supported by his Andrew Sabin Family Foundation. Efforts to aid Ukraine war victims include building three orphanages there, helping to facilitate the delivery of insulin, and obtaining a commitment from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to continue to provide insulin in that country. Sabin invites friends to experience delivering the Ukraine ambulances. “Every month we drive four or five ambulances. Obviously, they go through a lot of ambulances, you can understand.”
Programs at Yale, Columbia, Sloan Kettering, the Mayo Clinic, & M.D Anderson
With the International Fund for Animal Welfare, they provide food for pets of the Ukrainian people and care for abandoned animals there. His foundation rescued four lion cubs orphaned amidst the war, bringing them to a sanctuary in Minnesota, where they’ll permanently reside.
When we spoke in May, Sabin was looking forward to interviewing eight new foreign candidates for the master’s program at Yale’s School of Forestry, where his foundation provides full scholarships and a $20,000 post-graduate award if the student returns to his/her country of origin and works at least two years for an environmental NGO.
His Climate Change Law Clinic at Columbia University has ten lawyers, and Sabin was recently honored by Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for two projects he spearheaded, a cardiac research center and a men’s wellness center. He supports medical research at Sloan Kettering and the Mayo Clinic. He also funds 20 doctors working to cure cancer at MD Anderson in Houston, where he helped to establish an immunotherapy clinic named for Nobel Prize winner James P. Allison.
Bucket List Trip: Solomon Islands
Sabin, who has visited 110 countries, just returned from a “bucket list” yacht trip sailing from Auckland, New Zealand, to Brisbane, Australia, with stops in the Cook Islands, Norfolk Islands, New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
While on the journey, run by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions, Sabin figured out a way to get basic supplies to needy children on two remote islands in the Solomons. “They have absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing. They don’t have shoes; they live in grass huts,” he said. “Nobody’s done this before. I’m so happy to help these kids.”
Bipartisan Conservation Group
An avowed political conservative, Sabin has done the seemingly impossible, establishing Conserve America, a bipartisan group of 14 senators, evenly split between both parties, working on environmental solutions. Their newest push is RAWA, Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, a bill in the Senate being introduced by Thom Tillis, Republican from North Carolina, and Martin Heinrich, Democrat from New Mexico. “It’s $1.4 billion a year to states to protect habitat and keep animals off the Endangered Species List.”
Lifelong Environmentalist: Many Species Named for Sabin
His love for the environment is lifelong. At nine, he started collecting frogs and toads. “I never grew up. I still get excited when I see a frog.” Now 77, Sabin leads Tiger Salamander walks in Bridgehampton several times each year. “My favorite thing in life is to take children on a nature walk at night and to see the smiles on their faces when they come in contact with nature.” He has more species—14—named after him and his family than any person in the world.
Sabin believes that his purpose on Earth is “to save humanity and save the planet, and not care about being the richest guy in the cemetery.”
