Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen contestant Cara Moss and her Little Miss Spat co-contestant Sawyer Edwards dedicated their project to raising money and awareness for oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. Cara’s project, Adopt an Oyster, allowed community members to “adopt” baby oysters and give them names, helping them feel connected to restoring the bay. The donations supported the Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association (TOGA), a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 that works to improve the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers by raising oysters and teaching others how to do the same. Today, TOGA supports nearly 600 families who grow oysters at home and share the goal of protecting the bay.
To raise money for TOGA, Cara and Sawyer organized a lunch fundraiser at Mobjack Tavern, where a portion of the proceeds supported the project. To spread awareness, Cara designed posters and thank-you cards, which were displayed in local businesses, including Piankatank River Golf Club, Moss & Riggs, Los Compadres and The River Market. Through these combined efforts, Cara raised $2,100 for TOGA.
When she and Sawyer presented the donation, TOGA’s leaders shared that it could be one of the largest contributions of the year. The funds will purchase thousands of spat, which will be planted in the bay to grow, filter water, and form reefs that protect shorelines and create habitats.
Adopt an Oyster
Education was also a central part of Adopt an Oyster. Cara partnered with Ware Academy and Middlesex Elementary School to create meaningful outdoor learning experiences for students. For each trip, she designed lesson plans and booklets to help children record their observations and reflect on what they discovered. The trips included several stations where students studied shoreline plants and animals, used nets to collect and identify stream organisms, and talked about the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in the bay’s food web.
She also looked for macroinvertebrates to better understand the health of the streams and, in turn, the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay. Cara’s goal was for students to leave with both knowledge and memorable experiences that connected them to the bay.
The Adopt an Oyster project will leave both immediate and long-term benefits. Thousands of oysters funded through Sawyer and Cara’s donation will be restored to the bay, filtering water, supporting seagrass growth, and creating healthier habitats for fish, crabs, and other marine life. The children who participated in the field trips experienced the bay up close and gained a better understanding of why it matters to protect it.
Cara credits her success to the many people who supported her along the way. She is thankful to TOGA leaders Carl Zulick and Vic Spain for their encouragement and guidance, to the businesses and restaurants that hosted fundraisers or displayed project materials, to the schools and teachers who opened their classrooms to their lessons, and to her parents for supporting her along the way.
Most of all, she is grateful for her Little Miss Spat, Sawyer Edwards. Cara’s favorite part of her project was the time she spent with Sawyer. They instantly connected through their first meeting, which was also their first encounter.
Since then, they have spent time outside of their project at lunches, fun days at Compass, getting sweet treats, and more. Cara is the daughter of Matthew Moss and Melissa Johnson and a senior at Christchurch School, where she is an active member of the sailing, basketball, and soccer teams and has been a varsity athlete since her freshman year. She also serves as a day-student prefect and navigator, welcoming visiting families and touring families through campus. Academically, she has earned a place on the dean’s and head of school’s lists. During the summer, she works at Ware Academy as an assistant teacher for their summer program.
Sawyer Leigh Edwards is 6 years old and is a first grader at Middlesex Elementary School and the daughter of Andy and Raquel Edwards of Saluda. Sawyer is competitive, caring, and a natural leader, and she brings determination and creativity to everything she does. She loves swimming, gymnastics, soccer, and spending time with her family — especially her big sister. Dreaming of becoming a nurse or doctor for babies, Sawyer already has the heart to care for the smallest among us.
The Chesapeake Bay has always been a part of Sawyer and Cara’s lives, and through Adopt an Oyster, she gave back to the place that shaped them. Her project not only supported the work of TOGA but also inspired the next generation to care for the Bay, proving that one project can make a lasting difference for both people and the environment.
