Are you 55 years or older, live in Cambria County and want to become involved in protecting our resources and educating the public on the natural world?  If so, the new Cambria County Senior Environment Corps wants you.

The Cambria County Conservation District and Nature Abounds, a national non-profit and organizer of the Senior Environment Corps, are working together to get the new group up and running. Members can participate in a variety of tasks from monitoring water-quality, observing and reporting on wildlife, and even helping with office tasks. The possibilities are endless.

According to Nature Abounds President, Melinda Hughes-Wert, “We’re thrilled that Cambria County will have a new Senior Environment Corps (SEC). There has been SEC groups in surrounding counties for quite some time – Indiana, Blair, and Clearfield - so it’s time for Cambria to have one too.”

Hughes-Wert continued, “Senior Environment Corps members have monitored water quality, helped to inventory wildlife, marked abandoned oil wells and educated the next generation of environmental stewards.  Since 1997, SEC volunteers in Pennsylvania have contributed over 2,000,000 hours to the Commonwealth’s environment, and that contribution is estimated to be valued at over $3,000,000 a year. In 2013, the SEC program won a Western Pennsylvania Environmental Award.”

Robb Piper, Manager of the Cambria County Conservation District said, “The Board of Directors is looking forward to engaging new senior resources for conservation in Cambria County.”

The first project of the new Cambria County Senior Environment Corps will be water quality monitoring. The training for the project will take place on September 24th, and will last approximately five hours.

For more information about volunteering with the Cambria County Senior Environment Corps, please contact the Cambria County RSVP office at 814-539-4511 or the Cambria County Conservation District at 814-472-2120. 

For more information about the Senior Environment Corps Program or Nature Abounds, please contact Melinda Hughes-Wert of Nature Abounds at either 814-765-1453 or send email to:  sec@natureabounds.org. Nature Abounds is bringing people together for a healthy environment.

8/19/2013