Community Service

MESSA encourages its members to participate in service activites as a way to be involved in our program and in the communities of our school, city, county, and state. We pick up trash, watch out for the oysters, participate in Earth Day activities, and are frequently asked to help out with local events that are sustainably oriented.

Read more below about some of our activities in the community, or check out the on-campus accomplishments that MESSA members have been involved in at the campus sustainability site. Additionally, check out the CofC chapter of the Coastal Conservation League and get involved!!!

Adopt-A-Highway

MESSA members have diligently picked up all kinds of trash along a stretch of Highway 61 from where it leaves Higway 17 after crossing the Ashley River, to its intersection with Wesley Drive. We collect trash three times a year.

Beach Sweep

Beach Sweep is a national campaign to clean up waterfront areas. Each year, a large group of MESSA students and friends make short work of removing trash from a local stretch of beach in the Charleston area. Check out SC SeaGrant's webpage to learn more.

Some MES'ers at the 2008 Beach Sweep at Waterfront Park.

Sustainable Charleston

MESSA members worked to initiate the Sustainable Charleston program, a partnership with the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Developers Council, and The Sustainability Institute to recognize and promote businesses or organizations that successfully balance community development, growth management and environmental stewardship. Follow the link below to learn more about who's dedicated to the economic, environmental and social success of business, and the Sustainable Charleston Awards.

SCORE

The South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Project (SCORE) is an ongoing activity for many MESSA members. MESSA is responsible for weekly water quality monitoring at Bowen's Island. MESSA's participation has been recognized by the Office of the President of the United States. A representative of President Bush presented MESSA with an award on November 19th, 2004.

Move Out - Help Out

2003 was the inaugural year for the MESSA Clothing/Book Drive. Kicking off during Earth Day, MESSA members collected clothing and books from students on campus. Over 1100 articles of clothing was collected from the student body. Clothing will be donated to Goodwill Industries. By donating clothing instead of simply throwing it in the garbage, MESSA is hoping to reduce the amount of material heading towards landfills. The books collected were donated to underprivileged schools to help bolster their educational resources.

MESSA has continued to help out with the end-of-year collections annually, with items being sold in a "trash to treasure" rummage sale with proceeds going to the alternative spring break club. Remaining items are then donated to Goodwill.

A major event held in February since 2003 is the 8K for H20. This race, which raises all kinds of money for local non-profits, involves a whole lot of MESSA members coming out to volunteer, for both the Lighthouse Marathon a couple weeks ahead of time and the 8K race itself. Yep, you have to get out of bed a little early (they're runners, who knows?) but it's a good time at the beautiful edge of America and you'll probably get lots of freebies, like t-shirts and breakfast!

Some of the 300+ runners that participated in the 2008 MESSA 8K for H20

Other Activities

In May 2008 MESSA volunteered to help out at the Lowcountry Derby Party at the Navy Yard at Noisette. Proceeds from the event were donated to The Lowcountry Housing Trust, The Sustainability Institute, and the Habitat for Humanity.

This past September MESSA is took part in the Charleston Green Fair. The purpose of the Charleston Green Fair is to create excitement and enthusiasm for green products, services and technologies available to the residents of the Lowcountry using an environmentally responsible forum of education and entertainment. At the Green Fair MESSA set up a booth educating people about the benefits of vermicomposting and allowed little kids to play "worm toss" which turned out to be a huge hit!

Jenny Tyrrell manning the MESSA booth at the Green Fair!

This upcoming November MESSA will be volunteering and running in the Lowcountry Earth Force 5k. This race benefits the Lowcountry Earth Force which is an environmental learning organization that helps groups at area schools identify and implement projects to better their community.

It's also not uncommon to find an MES student volunteering to play Claire the pelican for Keep Charleston Beautiful. Last year Claire visited over 3,000 local elementary students in the Charleston area and tought them about the benefits of recycling!