Guest blogger Krista Van Tassel, Business Initiatives Manager for Wells Fargo & Company, discusses the local Wells Fargo Green Team’s environmental efforts with the Museum’s MUVE (Museum Volunteers for the Environment) project:
Wells Fargo Green Teams focus on both community and office projects to help support our company’s environmental commitment. In Miami, our South Florida Green Team came up with a unique solution to supporting coastal restoration while also raising awareness of environmental issues at work.
The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science (formerly known as the Miami Science Museum), which received a Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grant in 2012, needed help from volunteers for its fall project to collect mangrove seedlings (called propagules) that would be cultivated then replanted to help restore the coastline. Mangroves are highly visible features in tropical Florida and they serve important ecological purposes, by protecting coastal areas from erosion and storm surges, as well as creating a healthy environment for fish, birds and reptiles.
Our Miami Green Team used the call for volunteers as a way to build awareness of their new 2013 Green Team and increase its membership.
In September, more than 45 team and family members gathered at Oleta State Park in North Miami Beach to help collect mangrove seedlings they would adopt, to incubate at home. Because mangroves grow in coastal swamps, the team used kayaks to row through Biscayne Bay. Team members of the South Florida Green Team also cared for several seedlings in the office.
In December, when the mangroves were ready for transfer to the swamps, the team organized a second volunteer event to plant more than 1,200 seedlings at a local park.
What’s more, the South Florida Green Team tripled its membership after using this unique volunteer event to generate interest in protecting the local environment through actions we can all take at work, at home and in the community.
Now that the team is up and running, it’s looking forward to future volunteer opportunities and office campaigns to keep the eco-momentum moving in Miami.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on creative approaches to community and team engagement. Please tell us what you think about this project or share your ideas through the reply section below.
- Krista Van Tassel
Krista Van Tassel Bio
