Volunteer Ideas

[JALOPY]

Hello Fellas,

My daughter is a junior in High School, she will be inducted into NHS next week. We are busy getting everything together for College Shopping and trying to figure out what whe wants to do for a career.
I want to try and get her some volunteer time at a hospital to see if she likes nursing.
I already have volunteer time lined up at an Animal Shelter to see if there is any interest there.
AND, since I love the water and she has become quite accustommed to being on the water, I figure why not see if there is any volunteering needed there. She also loves oysters.

We live in Howard County part of Laurel, so distance is an issue. My mother lives in Prospect Bay, so eastern shore is a possibility as well.

My immediate thought was CCA, or one of the MSSA chapters.

Any thoughts or suggestions??

John

[paxfish]

CCA has an active oyster restoration program in the lower Patuxent. Our next work days will be sometime in June.

Keep an eye out for opportunities further up the bay as well.

[hackeyfly]

Take a look at Blue Water Baltimore, they are always looking for volunteers, and the disciplines covered range from hard science to engineering to social issues, all related to cleaning up our waterways. In the interest of full disclosure, my company is a big sponsor of BWB.
http://www.bluewaterbaltimore.org/

Good going on the NHS induction, my son was invited, and blew it off, now it's costing him $$$ he could have gotten from several of the schools he applied to. Grrrr!
Pat in Joppa

[27 sailfish]

Try CBF - they might be able to help.

Never hurts to call DNR - might take a few transfers but stick with it.

If not a member now - join MSSA. They have a great scholarship program - for marine related classes. Decent awards - I've seen $2,000.00 to a few.

[JALOPY]

Thanks for the responses.

The last few years I remember reading stories about Yellow Perch surveys. Like looking for the egg ribbons and so forth. Who does that type of work, and is any done on the upper Patuxent?

Keep the suggestions coming, she seems open to trying a bunch of different stuff. Now, if I can get her to parallel park, she can get her license.

[Coconut]

Have a look at CBEC. It's in Grasonville, near Prospect Bay. I used to do volunteer work there a while back.
http://www.bayrestoration.org/volunteer

[Chesapeake TJAM]

John-I work for Howard County Fire&Rescue, if she wants to do a ride-a-long you can stop in one of the stations. She could ride on the first piece out the door, either fire engine or medic unit. I suggest this because you mentioned nursing. I graduated college with a double major in Animal science and Marine biology. After trying to find a career that was financially rewarding (Although I was content on being poor on the water) and mentally rewarding I decided on the fire dept. I'm a paramedic and my wife is a nurse, and we can attest that both are incredibly rewarding careers. (although I still yearn to wear flip-flops to work again).
If you want any other info or have questions let me know.
Mike

[Kevin Smith]

You may want to consider volunteering with Wish A Fish. It is a great organization and I really enjoy helping families with special needs children enjoy a day out for fishing, a cook out and fun.

Here is the link to the website: http://www.wish-a-fish.org/

Here is the mission statement from their website.

The Wish-A-Fish Foundation's mission is to provide a little relief for a family from the daily stress of having a child with “special needs” such as a life-threatening illness, or a mental or physical disability, by taking the entire family out for a day of fun and fishing on the water.

Kevin
Weekend Mistress

[Southern Grin]

John: a good place to start would be the Maryland Watermen's Association. Before you begin to laugh ,volunteering with a commercial fishing organization would give her a different perspective on the real life issues surrounding the Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries. Volunteering with any of the above mentioned organizations would only give her a one-sided point of view which we seem to hear all the time here at Tidalfish and the general press. I am not taking anything away from the other organizations, but a fresh perspective and understanding in the real life of the Chesapeake Bay as seen through the eyes of someone who ventures out everyday of their life. Just something to think about.