Volunteers team up with Channel Islands Restoration to help regrow endangered native plant for Day of Service

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Dozens of volunteers got their hands dirty on the Day of Service. Every Martin Luther King Jr. Day volunteers donate their time to help local organizations and give back to their community.

The nonprofit, Channel Islands Restoration, organized a couple of dozen volunteers to help an endangered plant, the Marsh Sandwort. Organizers said the wort only grows in a small region along the California coast. And invasive species moving in has endangered it.

The volunteers from Ojai Valley School, University of California Santa Barbara, the community and Channel Islands Restoration got their hands dirt pulling up ice plants and asparagus plants to make room for the Marsh Sandwort.

UCSB is currently growing more sand marsh wort in their greenhouse. When the area is fully cleared volunteers will replant the Marsh Sandwort. Then they will study the growth of the plant and its impact on the environment.

Juliette Rebello is a recent graduate of UCSB. She said, “I wanted to find kind of an organization and a volunteer opportunity that was benefiting the environment especially because it’s so beautiful we should all do what we can to protect it. And I’m glad I had this day off in order to dedicate that time that I would otherwise be at work.” 

For more information about Channel Islands Restoration, projects they work on or how to volunteer, visit their website.