Become a Volunteer
Our volunteers continue to sustain the SCCF with their expertise and dedicated hard work. We had 707 volunteers work a total of 19,676 hours, which is the equivalent of 10 full-time staff positions. The actual number is probably higher because tracking our volunteers and their hours is not an exact science, and not everyone keeps a record of and reports their hours. However, keeping track of volunteer hours is important to the Foundation for receiving grant money, for reporting purposes, and of course to recognize those who give of their time, energy, skills and talent. A special thanks to our volunteers who help us protect wildlife habitat on and around the islands of Sanibel and Captiva!
Board of Trustees and Committees
The Board of Trustees and six committees kept the Foundation on track by assisting with business needs, special events planning, land acquisition, communications, and fund-raising. Forty-two committee members logged 1,243 hours.
Birding at the Preserves
Sixteen volunteers led 13 bird watch outings in the Foundation’s preserves for a total of 443 hours.
Butterfly House
Three volunteers maintained our Butterfly House and guided visitors for 160 hours sharing their knowledge of these beautiful winged insects.
Captiva Cruises
Nine docents gave natural history and estuary talks aboard the Lady Chadwick for a total of 586 hours.
Carpentry Crew or "Hammerheads"
Sixteen hammerheads maintained the Foundation’s facilities, finished building two off-site kiosks, expanded the Nature Center porch and built a ramp up to the porch. They kept busy at the new Wildlife Habitat Management facility creating desks, cabinets, bookshelves, tables and benches. The Hammerheads also built a new platform for the butterfly house, improved parking lot lighting, assisted with sewer hook-up, and helped to install cameras in nesting bird boxes. This crew of hard-working volunteers accrued 4,362 hours.
Habitat Management
Six volunteers spent 153 hours eliminating invasive, non-native vegetation, and assisting with the creation and maintenance of trails on our conservation lands.
Landscaping for Wildlife
Thirty-six nursery volunteers helped with potting, weeding, and plant propagation. They also sold and delivered native plants for a total of 1,200 hours.
Nature Shop and Bookstore
Thirty-six friendly volunteers greeted our visitors, oriented them to the exhibits and trails, tended the shop, stocked the shelves, and sold nature-oriented gifts and books for a total of 2,261 hours.
Office
Thirty-two volunteers sent out numerous mailings, answered the phone, wrote letters, entered computer data, and tracked membership. They logged a total of 1,576 hours.
Sea Turtle Conservation Program
Ninety-three sun-burned volunteers with sand in their shoes and bugs in their faces, driven by the love of this ancient mariner, spent 5,062 hours walking and driving the beaches, marking nests, recording data, making signs, educating residents, and coordinating with the state’s Sea Turtle Recovery Program.
Shorebird Monitoring
Ten volunteers spent 314 hours identifying shorebird nesting habitat on Sanibel, walking the beaches looking for nests, marking nests, recording data, and monitoring fledgling success.
Special Events
386 volunteers (yes, that’s right) helped to plan and implement our numerous events and fundraisers for 1,784 hours. These included…an Earth Day celebration, Annual Meeting, Tennis Tournament, Chamber After Hours reception, Open House, Island-style Art Auction and two island-wide cleanups – the Coastal Cleanup and the Great Island Pick-Up.
Trail Guides
Seventeen volunteers introduced visitors to the ecology and natural history of our Center Tract trail system for 374 hours.
Weeds and Seeds
Five folks with a passion for botany spent 158 hours surveying Foundation and other preserved lands identifying plants to develop inventories and document changes in their distribution.