Make a Difference — Become a Volunteer

Volunteers are the key to our success in protecting and restoring the North Carolina coast. Thousands of people have helped in our projects to restore coastal habitat, have pushed for stronger environmental rules and standards and have promoted widespread stewardship of our coastal resources. As environmental pressures increase, so does the need for protection of coastal resources and thus the need for continued volunteer support.

As a volunteer for the North Carolina Coastal Federation, you will have the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills and contribute to the community. Working with others to help protect the coast is an incredibly rewarding experience. We invite you to join us — visit our events page to learn about upcoming opportunities.

Interested? Click here to fill out a volunteer form.

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Ways you can get involved

Field Opportunities

CHS-DMF-plantingWetland Restoration

Plant native vegetation and restore marshes at our wetland restoration project sites, including our living shoreline demonstration projects. Plantings are scheduled in the spring and early summer at various locations along the coast.

Oyster Restoration

Volunteers can help bag oyster shells that are used to build reefs, relay oyster bags, seed oyster reefs and monitor established reefs. Oyster restoration events occur along the coast throughout the year.

Shoreline and oyster restoration days are dependent on the weather, tides and the completion of site preparation. We alert volunteers to coming projects and call with specific assignments three to five days in advance.

Project Maintenance

Volunteers maintain rain gardens, stormwater projects and wetlands and oyster restoration projects.

Property and Easement Stewards

Volunteers monitor and maintain federation coastal properties and easements.

Coastal Cleanups

Marine debris is a problem that continues to negatively impact wildlife, ecosystems, human health and the economy. Organizing shoreline cleanups along the entire coast is one approach the federation takes to reduce debris. Join us for one of our coastal cleanups and do your part to prevent trash from becoming marine debris and to be part of the solution! Calendar of events.

Outreach Opportunities

Oyster-Festival

Festivals & Events

Help with the federation booth and display at various festivals and events throughout the year.

Publication Delivery

Use your car to deliver quantities of the Our Coast newsletter and other publications to coastal area visitors’ centers, libraries, restaurants and other public places.

Office Opportunities

receptionMailings

Volunteers help fold, stuff and label bulk mailings. These volunteers can work as often or infrequently as they like.

Equipment and Building Maintenance

Help maintain federation field equipment, including boats, trailers and restoration gear. Volunteers can also help with federation building maintenance and carpentry needs or with maintaining office gardens and landscaping.

Filing and Research

Volunteers help file documents or assist staff with data and information research on the web or in existing archived files.

Student Opportunities

The federation loves working with enthusiastic student groups of all ages! There are volunteer opportunities for students both in and outside of the classroom. Please visit this page to learn more about the federation’s education programs and school group volunteer opportunities. If you’re an educator interested in getting your classroom involved with the federation, please contact one of the federation’s education coordinators.

In Spring 2016, the northeast office hosted a group from Ithaca College that worked on oyster reef restoration, maintaining rain gardens and cleaning debris from wetlands. Hear from them firsthand about the benefits of volunteering for the federation: