Well Known Louisiana Businessman Honored With Emerald Teal Award

Richard Lipsey of Baton Rouge recognized.

Richard Lipsey
Richard Lipsey (left) receives the Emerald Teal Award from DU Chairman of the Board John Newman. Photo by Andrea Laborde Barbier

BATON ROUGE, La. – -(Ammoland.com)- The Baton Rouge chapter of Ducks Unlimited (DU) honored local philanthropist, volunteer and businessman Richard Lipsey with the Emerald Teal Award at their sponsor dinner Thursday night for his outstanding commitment to DU’s conservation mission. Emerald Teal awards are given to companies or individuals that donate products used to generate money at fundraising events.

“Louisiana is a top-ranking state within Ducks Unlimited, and the Baton Rouge Chapter is a DU President’s Elite Chapter, ranking in the top 10 nationally,” said Michael Patterson, Louisiana DU state chairman.

“This success is only achieved due to the continued support and commitment of natural leaders and dedicated volunteers like Richard Lipsey who has demonstrated his love and commitment to waterfowl and DU for more than 40 years.”

A long-time member of DU, Lipsey and his wife, Susan, are recognized as Diamond Sponsors in Perpetuity. He has served as Louisiana DU State Chairman and currently serves on the Baton Rouge Sponsor Event committee. For many years, Lipsey has donated hunts on the famous Win Hawkin’s Oak Grove Hunting Club to help DU raise money during live auction events. In addition to his generous personal philanthropy, Richard also supports DU’s grassroots fundraising program with donations of merchandise from his sporting goods company, Lipsey’s.

The company has donated more than $250,000 worth of guns to DU events over a 40-year Richard Lipsey (left) receives the Emerald Teal Award from DU Chairman of the Board John Newman. Photo by Andrea Laborde Barbier

“The bottom line is I love DU,” Lipsey said. “I love duck hunting, and I love donating every nickel that I have given to DU. It is an incredible organization, and without DU I’m not sure we would still be hunting ducks.”

Well known in Baton Rouge and across the state, Lipsey has generously given of his time and money to many area causes, including the Boy Scouts, Capital Area United Way, Temple B’nai Israel, the Louisiana Research Association, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and the Tiger Athletic Foundation, of which he was a founder. For his dedicated community involvement, Lipsey has received several awards including: the 2012 Hall of Fame Laureate, Anti-Defamation League’s Humanitarian Award and the 2011 Lipsey credits his civic-minded life to the lessons his parents taught him.

“I learned from them that you’ve got to give back,” he said. “You’ve got to participate. And you’ve got to do it with Lipsey has been married to Susan for 48 years and has two daughters and three grandchildren. “Susan has been a great partner, and she’s also very involved. We’ve always helped each other with our obligations for the civic organizations we support,” he said.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent.

Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org. Connect with us on our Facebook page at facebook.com/DucksUnlimited, follow our tweets at twitter.com/DucksUnlimited and watch DU videos at youtube.com/DucksUnlimitedInc.