Travel News

Voluntourism Spotlight: Sierra Club on Merritt Island, Florida

Once again, we’re adding to our listings of volunteer travel (a.k.a voluntourism) opportunities. Check back every Thursday for our voluntourism spotlight and tune into Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio to hear even more about these opportunities.

The Sierra Club is one of the largest grassroots organizations in the country working towards improvement of local communities, the environment, and the planet itself. Membership in the club starts at $15 and links you into a network of over 1.4 million environmental advocates, and allows you to participate in national and global environmental preservation initiatives through local chapters. You’ll also gain access to the club’s Worldwide Outing Program.

“Pleistocene to Pioneers: Women’s Service at Pine Island Conservation Area” in Merritt Island, Florida is a women-only week-long service trip in one of the first fossil sites recorded on Merritt Island in the 20th century. You’ll help with landscaping, trail maintenance and few possible small construction projects, while also enjoying walks along the history trail, and learning the Prehistoric and Pioneer history of the area. You’ll live dorm-style in the newly renovated Sams house and enjoy daily meetings and meals on the porch. The trip runs from October 21 through the 27  and has room for 10 female volunteers. ($445 plus a $50 deposit)

The week includes a day off from service work, during which volunteers can take advantage of all there is to do on the island. Visit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: 140,000 acres of coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks that provide habitat for more than 1,500 species of plants and animals. Merritt Island is also home to the Kennedy Space Center where visitors can virtually experience a shuttle launch or learn about one in an “astronaut encounter.”

By Lauren Herstik for PeterGreenberg.com

Feature image via Wikimedia Commons, user: Ebyabe.