Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) recenlty teamed up with local non-profit organization Seattle Works to remove invasive species before planting 135 plants and trees in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, which has the largest remaining contiguous forest in the West Seattle neighborhood. As part of the Meet in Washington State campaign, SCVB, along with Visit Bellevue Washington, Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, Tacoma Regional Convention + Visitors Bureau and the Tulalip Resort Casino Spa, will plant trees for each attendee that visited the Meet in Washington State booth at the 2011 ASAE Springtime Expo and the 2011 ASAE Annual Meeting.
On October 28, 2011, the SCVB team cleared 11,000 square feet of invasive plants, including Himalayan blackberry, Scot's broom and English Hawthorne from the forest before planting 135 plants of Salal, Tall Oregon Grape, Oregon Ash, Douglas Fir, Nootka Rose, Snowberry and Twinberry.
SCVB’s ‘Voluntourism’ program was initially created for visiting clients and is part of a rising demand from convention and tour groups looking for ways to give back to the communities they visit. The program partner, Seattle Works, organizes these work projects for visiting groups.
Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, a private, nonprofit marketing organization, has served as Seattle/King County’s official destination marketing organization (DMO) for more than 50 years. The goal of these marketing efforts is to enhance the employment opportunities and economic prosperity of the region.
Seattle Works is local nonprofit organization that facilitates more than 25,000 hours of service a year. Groups can contract with Seattle Works to organize projects of varying levels of complexity, for groups ranging from less than ten participants to 350+. These projects connect volunteers with our local community, provide nonprofits with volunteer support and are an earned income stream that supports Seattle Works’ year-round effort to inform, connect and inspire people in their 20s and 30s to take action in our community.
More information on Seattle area volunteer opportunities can be found on the voluntourism web site, visitseattle.org/Meetings-And-Conventions/Voluntourism.
