Presque Isle State Park’s new Adopt-a-Beach program begins in April.
The park is seeking volunteers to participate in a three-hour-a-month data collection beach cleanup from April through September.
Prospective volunteers are asked to attend one of two training sessions: Wednesday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m., or Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m.
All materials will be provided and service hours are available. Registration is required. Call John Laskos at 838-2454 to register or for more information.
Do yourself some good — and have fun — while doing good for Erie. The 2013 Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community Erie will take place Saturday, June 8, at Presque Isle State Park. This year’s Walk benefits 25 local health and human service organizations, including the Erie County Diabetes Association, YMCA of Greater Erie, Therapy Dogs United and the Mental Health Association of NW Pennsylvania, among others. Walk participants can choose which organization they want their donations to go to. For the complete list of participating organizations, or to register for the walk, go to www.HighmarkHealthyWalk.org.
On-site registration and check-in will begin at 7:45 a.m. on June 8, and the walk, which is 5K (3.1 miles), will start at 9 a.m. There’s also a 1-mile fun walk, which starts at 9:15 a.m. The walk will be held rain or shine. Strollers and wheelchairs are permitted.
After the walk, participants can enjoy food, beverages, music, activities and prize drawings. For every $50 a walker donates or raises in support of a participating organization, they will receive one raffle ticket. Prizes worth a total of more than $1,000 will be raffled off.
Walkers who donate or raise $25 or more will receive a Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community T-shirt (while supplies last).
Parking is available at Beach 1, but get there early because it fills up fast.
The mornings in Erie are becoming increasingly chilly, but there’s still time to squeeze in a few more fundraiser walks/runs.
Why not try the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes at Presque Isle State Park on Sunday?
Registration starts at 8 a.m. The walk begins at 9 a.m.
Participants will walk 3 miles, beginning at the Rainbow Gardens.
To register, visit this website.
To learn more, contact Diane Sickles at dsickles@jdrf.org or via telephone at 452-0635.
The Erie Times-News and GoErie.com are keeping you updated on Erie region volunteer efforts.
Here are some volunteer stories from this week:
St. Benedict Center helps teach refugees
Volunteers teach work skills, such as sewing and bicycle repair, to new refugees at the St. Benedict Education Center.
Volunteers to clean litter from Lake Erie coast
Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup volunteers have bagged 169,390 cigarette butts and 41,680 beverages containers in the local watershed over the past nine years.
Gleaning with Erie’s Second Harvest Food Bank
Four volunteers with Second Harvest Food Bank worker Jack Nunes picked more than 1,200 pounds of produce at Mobilia Fruit Farm in North East Township.
Do you love the environment? Give back by volunteering at Presque Isle State Park and the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.
Volunteers are needed to work the Tom Ridge Environmental Center Information Desk. Tasks will include greeting visitors, answering questions and providing information and brochures about the center and state park.
Volunteers shifts run from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. seven days a week.
For more information, please contact volunteer coordinator Ray Bierbower at 814-833-7424.
The Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program is welcoming new refugees to Erie at its annual Refugee Picnic.
The picnic is located at the Cook House Pavilion at Presque Isle State Park on Sept. 15.
Volunteers are needed to set up, direct traffic, lead games, crafts and nature walks and patrol the beach.
From Catholic Charities via VolunteerMatch:
This is a wonderful way to interact with Erie’s newest arrivals and help welcome them to our city!
To volunteer, contact Deacon John Brophy via e-mail or telephone at 528-3623 or 897-8327.
The Presque Isle Partnership is still looking for volunteers for Discover Presque Isle events later this month.
It takes 200 volunteers to get this event, which takes place on July 27, 28 and 29, off the ground. Volunteers sell Frog buttons and provide brochures at key spots around the state park.
For their efforts, volunteers receive a T-shirt and a discount at food vendors.
Volunteer shifts are typically three hours and can be chosen on Discover Presque Isle’s website. The Presque Isle Partnership asks that volunteers arrive 15 minutes before their shift.
Learn more on the Discover Presque Isle website.
Over 200 GE Transportation employees have signed up for a day of service at four Erie-based non-profit organizations on Saturday.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the GE Transportation volunteers will work at Presque Isle State Park, Asbury Woods, SafeNet and the Veterans Association’s Homeless Veterans Program. Tasks will include weeding, enhancing a playground and moving items into a storage locker.
“Our volunteer event has been in the works for months and is one of many to come in 2012 and beyond,” said Stephen Koller, director of communications and affairs at GE Transportation, in an e-mail.
Volunteers will be wearing service day T-shirts during the event.
Lace up those walking shoes. The bi-annual Dave Cooney Parkinson Awareness Walk takes off at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Presque Isle State Park.
Proceeds from the walk go to the Parkinson Foundation of Western Pennsylvania. The money will be used to fund services, support, and education for those afflicted with Parkinson’s disease and their families and support medical research to discover the cause and cure.
An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people in western Pennsylvania suffer from Parkinson disease. That number soars to 1.5 million in North America and 6 million worldwide.
The Dave Cooney Parkinson Awareness Walk has raised $15,500 for Parkinson research since 2008.
This year’s 3-mile walk starts and ends at the Rotary Pavilion. The event will go off rain or shine.
Day of registration is $20. Fill out this registration form beforehand.
To donate, visit this website.
