We at Gulf Coast Diplomacy love to give our visitors volunteer opportunities, especially those that highlight the beauty of the natural environment. Sharon Gincauskas, co-president of Ocean Hour, is always more than willing to meet with our visitors and provide an opportunity to both explore our beaches and walkways and help keep them clean. She has met with many groups to highlight American volunteerism over the past few years.
Gincauskas co-founded Ocean Hour to clean up Pensacola’s waterfront. Every Saturday, she and volunteers meet to clean areas by waterways for at least an hour. The organization works with school clubs, similar nonprofits, and other organizations and maintains a significant Facebook presence to encourage the community to join them for cleanings. When talking about her organization's impact on visitors, Gincauskas said, “I hope they see that a person or a small group of people can make a small difference in their community.” She went on to say that while Ocean Hour may not be a large organization, they have grown considerably from the handful of friends to the thirty to forty people that now attend every weekend. She hopes this highlights how large a small organization can grow.
Gincauskas said, “I think, personally, [international exchange] really reinforces that we are in a global society and that it is not just about our little area. The exchange of ideas is phenomenal.” She explained that these exchanges allow for Ocean Hour to receive new ideas, and while they may not always get to work on them, they remain in the back of their minds, ready to be implemented when the time is right. She hopes that she does the same for the visitors. To learn more about Ocean Hour’s beach cleanup opportunities, visit the organization’s website at www.oceanhourfl.com or their Facebook at www.facebook.com/oceanhourfl. Here, one can see the organization’s dedication to keeping Pensacola’s waterways serene.
