About the Jim Smith Fund

[Don Danko]

Jim Smith was the OCA Membership chairman for about a decade, from about 1993 to 2003. Under his watch, the OCA grew to over 250 members - a record that would stand until 2012! Jim passed away in 2003 and, in that same year, the OCA established a fund with the intention of supporting cichlid research, education and conservation projects. The OCA, through the Jim Smith Fund, makes awards to chosen recipients at the annual Extravaganza Awards Banquet.

The OCA raises money for the Jim Smith Fund through donations to the club. Examples are OCA Sponsors and Members donating bags of fish or hard goods for auction. It also solicits proposals during the calendar year and evaluates and votes on winners just prior to the Extravaganza.

To date, the OCA has given over $13,000 to research, education and conservation efforts! Here are a few examples:

- In 2008, $1,000 was given to support the construction of Anti-Netting Devices to impair illegal fishing in Lake Malawi
- In 2011, $2,500 was given to Jay Stauffer at Penn State University to catalog over 3,200 collections of Cichlids
- In 2013, two awards were made, one to Ed Burress for Pike Cichlid research and the other to Ron Coleman for Central American research
- In 2015, Melanie Stiassny, of the American Museum of Natural History, received a $1200 grant to help fund an expedition to the Congo River to collect live Teleogramma obamaorum. Also, Sam Borstein received $2000 for Malawi Cichlid feeding techniques.

You can help the Jim Smith Fund raise money by donating something unneeded from your fish room or by donating money directly. Please see a Board Member for more information.