volunteers with Mayor Demings
eVIP Volunteers with Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings at the
2023 Dell Property Earth Day Project
Lend a Hand to make a difference in your Orange County environment and community.
Thank You Volunteers!
2023 Earth Day Projects
The Orange County Environmental Protection Division would like to thank all the volunteers that helped to make a difference this Earth Day.

On April 21, volunteers worked diligently on land management projects at a new Green PLACE acquisition, the Dell property in Christmas, Florida. Participants received an extra special welcome from Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and District 5 Commissioner Emily Bonilla. Eighteen volunteers generously gave 45 hours to remove 10 bags of invasive plants, 10 bags of trash, a variety of large household objects and 635 feet of internal fencing. Thank you for helping Orange County prepare this property for its future conservation and recreational uses.

The very next day, on Earth Day, 34 volunteers from Central Florida RECON and Nautique Boat Company collected over 1,000 pounds of trash from the shoreline of the St. Johns River. While this cleanup was taking place in Orange County, volunteers in Seminole, Volusia and Brevard County were all lending a hand to remove trash from the St. Johns River, the longest river in Florida. Thank you also goes out to the St. Johns River Water Management District staff for partnering with us on this multi-county cleanup initiative.  
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
In Her Own Words
Volunteer Intern, Shalianna "Shay" Santiago
Interns at Event table
My internship with the Orange County Environmental Protection Division (EPD) began in May 2022. I work with the Compliance Support and Strategic Engagement (CSSE) Program and am currently in my last semester at the University of Central Florida pursuing a B.S in Environmental Studies and a minor in Business Administration. Right from the start of my internship I was able to help with various outreach events and overdue storage organization projects. In addition to my CSSE tasks, I job shadowed with the wonderful departments at EPD. I really enjoyed getting to analyze and process water samples for E. coli in our laboratory. It was incredibly informative and exciting to work with the brilliant team in the lab that was ready to show me the ropes. I also visited a Green PLACE property at Savage Christmas Creek Preserve where I learned about so many Florida native and invasive species. At the end of 2022, I was promoted to a paid intern at EPD and was able to devote even more time at the office. This allowed me to support even more storm drain labeling projects and organize event materials for our volunteers and staff. One of my biggest projects involved getting previous storm drain labeling projects up to date with the ArcGIS program. After being trained by the amazing Orange County GIS team, I was able to get started on the many marked inlets that needed to be mapped. The project gave me great experience working with ArcGIS and it was so satisfying to finally finish such a long standing project in my internship. It has truly been a pleasure to have been able to work with such passionate, intelligent and lovely people at EPD. It has been one of my best decisions to apply for this internship, and I am excited to see where the future takes me after I finish my internship and graduate!
Thank You Storm Drain Labeling Volunteers!
Girl Scout Troop 2343
Group holding tools on inlet
The Orange County Environmental Protection Division sends out a big thank you to Ashleigh from Girl Scout Troop 2343 who organized a group of volunteers to replace faded storm drain labels in her community to earn her Gold Award. Ashleigh coordinated with the Stoneybrook East Golf Community to remove and replace 240 labels and distribute 1,350 door hangers to residents. The devoted group spent much of their Spring Break working and donated 155 hours towards the effort. Thank you for all you did to help raise awareness about storm water runoff and its impact on our waterways!
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Would you like to learn more about the Orange County Environmental Protection Division (EPD)? EPD is excited to share a variety of information about events, sustainability, the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge, regulatory updates, lake management, water quality and more! If you would like to be included on the email list, please fill out this brief sign-up form.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Storm Drain Label
Storm Drain Labeling
Spearhead a storm drain labeling project in your community. Orange County eVIP provides all the supplies, a one-hour training session and the support to create an enjoyable and meaningful service project for your group. Please help us keep our surface water clean and our storm drains functioning properly. This is a great project for scout groups! 
Girls identifying natural specimen with phone app
The Explore Nature Project
The Explore Nature Project provides an opportunity to help clean up natural lands in Orange County and learn about the countless species in these diverse ecosystems. To view recent observations captured by Explore Nature volunteers, visit eVIP's iNaturalist Project page. Then click join to upload and share your finds! Volunteer hours will be verified upon request.

Intern on natural land
Internship Program
To learn more about the program, send an email stating your interest. Internships are competitive and applications are accepted year-round. Students can earn service hours, college credit and meaningful work experience. Interns who complete a three-month unpaid internship are eligible to apply for paid internships as available.
Orange County Water-Quality Monitoring
Orange County partners with the UF/IFAS LAKEWATCH program to provide volunteers with training and equipment for water-quality testing on local lakes. Volunteers need lake access, a few hours each month to collect samples, transportation to deliver samples, a canoe or watercraft and a one-year-plus commitment to sampling. 
EnviroScape Training and Presentations
Learn how to use the EnviroScape Model to provide fun, hands-on watershed education presentations. Are you an educator? Once trained, classroom teachers and youth group leaders can also "check out" our education materials. Alternately, request EnviroScape presentations for your students. Presentations are scheduled year-round as schedule permits.
Volunteers performing trash pickup
Group Community
Cleanup Kit
Is your group looking for an environmental project? eVIP has a new kit that helps individuals lead a cleanup and assist in keeping Orange County free of pollution. eVIP provides the supplies, training and support. The project is a good fit for volunteers of all ages and groups of all sizes. Educational materials will be provided as requested. 
Thank you for your interest!
If you would like more information on any of the opportunities listed above,
please contact the Orange County Environmental Protection Division Volunteer Coordinator 
Carrie Mohanna at Carrie.Mohanna@ocfl.net or 321-689-8232.
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Orange County Environmental Protection Division
407-836-1430 | 321-689-8232 (C) | 407-836-1499 (F)
3165 McCrory Place, Suite 200, Orlando, FL 32803

Serving our community by conserving, protecting and enhancing the environment for current and future generations.
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