About
What Is It?
A nonprofit that works “to preserve and enhance Galveston Bay as a healthy and productive place for generations to come” though advocacy, conservation, education, and research.
Help Needed:
Help with Abandoned Crab Trap Removal (February), the Armand Bayou Trash Bash (March), Marsh Mania marsh grass planting (April), or the Bay Day Festival (May), or assist in other ways. Please contact the GBF for COVID-related updates.
Details
Minimum Age to Volunteer
None. All ages are welcome for most activities.
Time Commitment
Varies; typical projects last about 4 hours
Training Needed
GBF will provide training as needed.
Help Needed
MARSH MANIA AND OTHER GROUP PLANTINGS
Each year hundreds of volunteers help GBF plant marsh grass on a Saturday morning in spring. More information is here.
GBF can also work with corporate groups, scouts, and youth groups to coordinate group marsh plantings. A minimum number of volunteers is required for most plantings. Planting opportunities are dependent on site availability.
TRASH BASH AT ARMAND BAYOU (MARCH)
Join more than 800 GBF volunteers as on a Saturday morning in March to collect tons of trash and recyclable materials over a 40-mile stretch of the Armand Bayou during the annual Rivers, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash event. More information is here.
ABANDONED CRAB TRAP REMOVAL (FEBRUARY)
Each year, on a Saturday morning in February, volunteers gather to collect and smash abandoned and derelict crab traps, which endanger wildlife and cause other harm. Help as a boat volunteer (on the water collecting traps), or a land-based volunteer (helping offload traps, smashing them, and tossing them in the dumpster). For more information, sign up for volunteer alerts here or check the GBF website.
BAY DAY FESTIVAL (MAY)
A popular annual celebration of Galveston Bay on the Kemah Boardwalk at which families and adults enjoy arts and crafts, live animal demonstrations, a scavenger hunt, science and marine exhibits, and live music. Volunteers help throughout the festival. Learn more here.
WATER MONITORING TEAM
Conduct regular water sampling around Galveston Bay that includes chemical analyses, physical testing, and field observations. For more information, sign up here for volunteer alerts. beach
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
Help with organization, data entry, filing, and other administrative tasks is greatly appreciated. If you’re looking to earn a few volunteer hours after school and want to use your administrative skills, or are looking for other special in-office projects, let us know and we may be able to work with you.
Location
GALVESTON BAY FOUNDATION
Kemah, Texas 77565
Location Details
Kemah, Texas 77565
Projects take place throughout the Galveston area.
Additional Information
Examples of past Scout projects
Eagle: Kai B. (Sea Scout Ship 468) constructed changing stations for students in GBF’s youth education program to change out of muddy clothes after a day on the Bay. (2019)
Eagle: Luke E. (Troop 11) marked storm drains and hung door hangers in the Idylwood and East Lawndale Subdivisions to remind people not to dump in the drains. (2018)
Eagle: Improved and expanded the cement oyster shell storage unit at the Texas City Curing Site. (The shells are cured and returned to the Bay returned to the Bay to help enhance the native oyster populations.) (2016)
Eagle: Dominick P. (Troop 514) built seven benches at GBF’s Trinity Bay Education/Nature Center. (2016)
Eagle: Ryan R. led more than 50 volunteers in a marsh restoration project, planting thousands of stalks of smooth cordgrass along an eroding shoreline. (2015)
Eagle: Matthew R. designed and built a storage center for the many canoes at GBF’s Trinity Bay Education/Nature Center. (2015)
Eagle: Edward B. led a group of scouts who filled and rigged 73 mesh bags with recycled oyster shells, harvested old bags, hung new bags, and distributed cured shells by kayak. (2011)
Eagle: Alex B. built 6 barn owl boxes. (2011)
Gallery
We planted marsh grass with a school group, and I liked it. We helped carry holedigging tools and buckets of marsh grassto the shore. You could plant where it was marshy or wade a little deeper into the water. Someone would make a hole and the other person would stick a stem of grass with the roots on it and sort of pat it into place. When we started the beach was pretty bare but by the end there was lots of grass and it looked good. The people from GBF helped us and had coolers of water and explained what was going on with the bay and gave us lunch at the end. Pretty place! I would definitely do it again. The whole thing took a couple of hours – maybe 3 or 4.