As Turtle Trackers of Hilton Head Island celebrates its 10th anniversary, the volunteer-driven nonprofit is looking for support from the local community to expand their efforts in the preservation of endangered sea turtles and vital educational outreach programs.
Founded in 2016 by ten members of the Women’s Club of Sea Pines, Turtle Trackers began with a simple but powerful goal: to “sea turtle excite” the local community. Inspired by concerns that sea turtle conservation lacked enthusiasm in the community, founding members took action by cleaning beaches at night, filling holes, flattening sand structures, and educating residents and visitors about how to protect nesting sea turtles and hatchlings of the endangered species.
Turtle Trackers has grown into a thriving organization, with hundreds of volunteers from across Hilton Head Island and neighboring communities including Bluffton, Sun City, and Margaritaville. Today, Turtle Trackers mobilizes volunteers along 14 miles of shoreline each nesting season (May thru October) with its signature “Put the Beach to Bed” initiative, ensuring safer conditions for nesting mothers and emerging hatchlings.
Education remains at the heart of the organization’s mission. Through its teaching endeavors, the group reaches children from Pre-K through fifth grade, as well as community
groups, senior living facilities, and summer camps. Over the years, Turtle Trackers volunteers have distributed thousands of educational materials. helping visitors and residents alike understand how to coexist responsibly with endangered sea turtles.
As Turtle Trackers enters its second decade, donations have become more important than ever. Contributions to the Sea Turtle Preservation Fund directly support educational programming, outreach materials, conservation tools, and financial assistance to local high school seniors pursuing studies in environmental science and related fields.
Turtle Trackers has recently established the Turtle Trackers Linda Zambelli Family Scholarship Fund. This spring we look forward to awarding our first two scholarships to support students who are interested in the environment, marine biology, STEM education and other sea turtle and marine related topics. A donation to the Turtle Trackers Linda Zambelli Family Foundation Fund will support that work.
Every donation helps educate more people, protect more nests, and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. This is truly a community effort. To help
Turtle Trackers flourish in its second decade, a donation can be made by clicking
https://lowcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1248 or visit
