During our spring break, brothers of the Florida Chapter performed our first ever Spring Break Service Trip to Key West. I began planning this trip during the fall semester when I contacted the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to see if we could volunteer with their agency. The sanctuary protects approximately 3,000 square nautical miles of coral reefs, sea grass meadows, mangroves, and sea flats with the goal of educating the public about the varieties of impacts, pressures, and threats to the Florida Keys ecosystem. After the sanctuary agreed to host us for the week, I filled out all the necessary paperwork required  to work with the a government agency. I then was contacted by Todd Hitchins, volunteer director, about finalizing the plans of each day and their corresponding clean ups. As a result we planned that:

                -Saturday, March 1: depart Gainesville, arrive in the Keys

-Sunday, March 2: orientation at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Eco-Discovery Center

                -Monday, March 3: kayaking mangrove clean up at Sugarloaf Key

                -Tuesday, March 4: walking shoreline clean up at Boca Chica Key

                -Wednesday, March 5: boating to Women Key and perform a shoreline clean up

                -Thursday, March 6: perform service at local historic church

                -Friday, March 7: snorkeling at Florida Reef and picnic at Fort Zachary Taylor

                -Saturday, March 8: depart Key West, arrive at Gainesville

During this one week of service, we collected over a ton of trash. The brothers were truly astonished at  the variety and sheer amount of marine debris that is washed up onto our shores and mangroves. I think this trip truly enlightened the brothers of our Florida Chapter about the need to help clean our oceans, and become more environmentally conscious. However, not only did this trip educate our chapter, it really bonded everyone that went on the trip. 

Originally posted by Jennifer W. West