lunel97
Registered: December 2014
City/Town/Province: Miramar
Posts: 1
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Sleeping in on a Saturday morning is very tempting after a whole week of attending classes, going to work, and managing numerous other duties. For some us, Broward College’s (BC) motivated volunteers, on the other hand, Saturday meant getting out of bed early and putting some protective gloves on to change our nearby park. With spring slowly approaching, my club, the Office of Volunteering and Leadership (OVAL), reached out to BC’s students for its first park clean-up of 2014. In an effort to give back to the community and raise awareness of environmental issues, we got together from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. to remove invasive species and further their education at the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park on Jan. 26.
We carefully bended certain trees so that we could reach the invasive plants which were very up high in the trees. We even climbed up the trees! We removed the invasive plants that did not originate from South Florida because their presence is very harmful to the nature in the area. The removal of any non-native exotic and invasive species is extremely beneficial because they completely cover the other species of trees and plants blocking out the natural sunlight so that they eventually die off.
The contribution of volunteerism does not only keep local parks in tip-top shape, but also strengthens team-work and leadership skills while collecting volunteer service hours. I had been volunteering with Oval for two semesters. After a while, my name became “You name it, I’ll be there.” And after my participation in various OVAL events, I took the initiative to spearhead this event. I just wanted to help the eco-system and partake in a learning process. As I threw away the invasive plants in the designated dumpster, I knew that I was taking the right initiative. Our energies became a synergy! When you see someone going above and beyond, everybody else follows. On that morning, there was no “I” in “team”!
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park gives the community the chance to spend some time in nature. As a result of our park clean-up, nature lovers who prefer to stay ashore, can now skate or ride their bikes on the paved park road, make a picnic, hike along two short trails and learn about local plants and wildlife. Which a strong passion for beautifying the park and areas around it, we combined forced to allow for new visitors to partake in a fresh new park!
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