Volunteer or Donate in SCM
If you're interested in volunteering or investing in the Santa Cruz Mountains community, here are a few great organizations that we recommend:
- Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship
- Creating and maintaining world-class trails responsibly, sustainably, and collectively since 1997
- Volunteer to help dig new trails or with existing park maintenance in Santa Cruz County
- Present team has helped out with trail builds in Cotini-Coast Dairies National Monument + Laguna Creek
- Peninsula Open Space Trust (aka POST)
- POST is creating a network of protected lands where people and nature connect and thrive on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. These lands are preserved forever so present and future generations benefit from the careful balance of rural and urban landscapes that makes our region extraordinary
- Present owner, Jackie has been a POST Ambassador + Outings Leader since 2017 + supports with Land Stewardship work in San Vicente Redwoods
- Local Farms + Gardens:
- Camp Joy Gardens - Boulder Creek
- Beeline Bloom - Ben Lomond
- Pie Ranch - Pescadero
- Keep Nature Wild (aka Wildkeeper Community)
- This is a DIY Trash Cleanup community that gets out in local wild spaces monthly across the world to celebrate making an impact together
- Jackie has been a Wildkeeper since 2020 and actively trashpicks monthly in the Santa Cruz Mountains
- Mid Peninsula Open Space District (aka Midpen)
- Each year, nearly 1,000 Midpen and partner volunteers contribute over 20,000 hours preserving, protecting, and promoting open space lands by participating in a variety of ways such as educating and inspiring visitors, maintaining trails and removing invasive, non-native vegetation.
- Sea Hugger
- Focused on protecting and healing the marine environment from plastic pollution through action and education to drive systemic change that addresses the root cause of the issue.
- Their mission is to educate the public to reduce plastic dependency, while focusing on protecting the marine environment, ensuring the intrinsic rights of aquatic life, and helping create sustainable communities that are no longer affected by plastic pollution.
- California State Parks Foundation
- Each year, CalParks volunteer program plans over 100 volunteer workdays to benefit nearly 30 parks across California. From Half Moon Bay State Beach to Rio de Los Angeles State Park, you can help protect these priceless resources now and for generations to come.
- Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks
- A vital partner with California State Parks, creatively working to ensure our cherished local parks and beaches are thriving and available to all, Friends’ innovative and collaborative community partnership provides support and investment for education, equity and inclusion, conservation, facilities improvements, historic preservation and cultural events
- KBCZ 89.3FM Community Radio
- This volunteer-run local community radio station is hosted out of downtown Boulder Creek. Join the team as a radio DJ, production assistant, community outreach, events or in various other ways. Reach out to their team to learn more via the link above.
Additional non-profit donation suggestions:
- Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
- Boulder Creek Fire Department
- Save the Redwoods League
- Mountain Parks Foundation
- Sempervirens Fund
- Sierra Club
- Tomorrow's Air
- Earth Justice
Thanks for your time, interest and efforts!