Sea Life Delegate Program from Youth Squad®

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This pin and all program supplies are available from our partner site MakingFriends®.com.

Suggested Prerequisite

Completing the Sea Life Advocate Patch Program® is a suggested prerequisite for earning your Sea Life Delegate Pin. Your advocate experience will help provide you with the knowledge needed to become a delegate for the welfare of sea life. You can also opt to complete the Sea Life Advocate requirements during the time you earn this Delegate pin.

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Requirement 1: Choose It!

Points to Consider When Choosing A Sea Life Action Project;

Threatened or endangered sea life; Helpful link: Species Directory
Threatened or endangered marine species in your area; Helpful Link: U.S. Threatened or Endangered Species by County
Species extinction; Helpful link: How does extinction happen?
Marine souvenirs; Helpful Link: 5 Souvenirs to Never Buy
Local sustainable seafood choices; Helpful Link: Seafood Recommendation

Marine poaching; Helpful link: Illegal Activities on the Ocean
Your community’s carbon footprint. Helpful Link: Reduce your community’s carbon footprint.
Trash in the ocean: Helpful Links: Where does marine trash come from? How long does it take for trash to decompose?

Some Ideas:

Revitalize a waterside park.
Give threatened turtles a head start. Helpful Link: A Turtle’s Head Start
Restore a coral reef. Helpful Link: Restoring Coral Reefs
Improve a habitat.
Conduct a local business audit to discourage the selling of non-sustainable seafood.
Reduce your community’s carbon footprint. Helpful Link: Reduce your community’s carbon footprint.
Reduce your community’s use of plastic.

Participate in, or work with local stormwater management department to start, a storm drain marking project in your community. Helpful Link: Storm Drain Stewardship

Storm Drain Stewardship Brochure from MARC.org

Project considerations:

What are your skills and talents?
Do you need a mentor or adviser? Who will it be?
Will there be legal or permit issues to resolve?
How many others can you recruit to help?
Will your volunteers need special skills or training?
How many hours can you devote to the project?
Will there be a project deadline?
How much money will you be able to raise for the project?
Can you get a sponsor to help with the costs?

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Requirement 2: Plan it!

Goal Setting

Setting goals will help give you a long-term vision and short-term motivation. It helps you to organize your thoughts and determine exactly what needs to be done.

Decide exactly what you want to accomplish and give your project a name.
Break it down into smaller steps.
Set up a timeline.

Recruit Volunteers

Although smaller projects can be done alone, many projects will require a team. As the project delegate, one of your most important roles will be building a successful team. Helpful Link: 7 Super Steps to Recruit Volunteers.

Find a mentor with experience in your project area.
Enlist an Advocate to help you recruit volunteers. Consider using a volunteer release form especially if you are working with children. Helpful Link: Volunteer Release Form
Decide which jobs you can do alone.
Will you have teams?
How many people will you need for each team?

Take a look at the table below to get you started. You can copy and paste the table to use as a template for your project. You can set up an account for free or use your own method for organization.

Budgeting

Budgeting allows you to create a spending plan for your project. Sticking to your budget ensures that you will have enough money for the things you need to complete it. If you copied the table above you will see there is a section for budgeting.

Raise Money

There are many ways to raise money. If you are working with an organization such as Girl Scouts* check first to see what is allowed. Helpful Link: A Beginner’s Guide to Fundraising

Consider GoFundMe, CrowdRise, DonorsChoose, or Kickstarter.
Organize an event like a car wash, bake sale, or benefit dinner to raise awareness around your fundraiser.
Host an event such as a walkathon, run, or bike rides.
Ask local businesses and community members to donate items for a silent auction or a live auction.
Sales of customized products like tee shirts, pens, and buttons will not only raise funds but generate awareness about your project.
Invite the local media to your fundraiser or at least supply them with a photo and caption after the event.

Specific ideas for Sea Life Fundraising

Get clever with your ideas. Think of things related to your cause. It will help bring awareness and set up a “fun” atmosphere, while raising the money you need to complete your cause.

Purchase candy such as Turtles, Swedish Fish or gummy sharks in bulk. Make custom tags to staple to the packaging. Sell for two to three times the purchase price.
Have a swim-a-thon.
Host a sandcastle building contest.
Get a local business to sponsor a “free” swim lesson, snorkel or dive class. Participants would make a suggested donation to the project. Businesses would benefit from booking additional lessons.
Host a mermaid/merman dance.
Fill baskets with donated beach gear and have a Chinese auction.
Install benches at your river, beach or lake side and ask people to sponsor the bench or the slats. Have plaques made for the sponsors.

Give sea life recognition gifts for sponsorships. Set donation levels such as $20 for a whale pin, $40 for a tee shirt, $60 for a beach towel.
Ask people to make small permanent sand sculptures for a silent auction.
Host a water-side barbecue.
Buy dollar store sand pail and shovel sets. Make permanent, water proof labels to put on them. Set up a table to sell them at the beach.

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Requirement 3: Do It!

You should now be ready to put your plan into action. Join in during your project to supervise and provide assistance at all levels.

After completing the plan, remember to thank the community.

Ways to say Thank You:

Personally thank individuals and businesses who helped. A handwritten letter is always nice. Helpful link: How to write a thank you letter.
Thank the community as a whole with posters.
Create a follow up press release and include the names of individuals and businesses who participated. Helpful link: How to write a press release.

Youth Squad® Volunteer Thank You Certificate

Give certificates of appreciation.
Thank the community as a whole on social media.

Congratulations on completing your sea life action project! The Sea Life Delegate pin makes a great reward for completing your project. It also makes a great gift to program sponsors and mentors.

See all our current Delegate level pin programs:

Related Fun Patch Ideas:

Note: Many of the links provided to assist with completing our Patch Program®s are external and do not imply an endorsement or recommendation. At the time of publication, external content was vetted to the best of our ability. Your views and ideas may vary and we do not intend for you to substitute our opinions for yours. Research the topic thoroughly before beginning a project. As always, make sure children access the internet only under safe-surfing conditions.

*youthsquad.makingfriends.com and MakingFriends®.com are not affiliated with, endorsed by or a licensee of Girl Scouts of the USA.