by Lisa D. Mickey
Cheryl Hood and Holly Perpall moved to Port Orange in 2013, and once they retired in 2015, both began volunteering at Marine Discovery Center.
Cheryl had worked in professional liability insurance with medical malpractice, while Holly, who holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry, worked for Merck Pharmaceutical for 26 years before coming to Florida to oversee a quality division for DaVita Laboratories.
Once their respective professional careers were over, the two became heavily involved in MDC’s Shuck & Share program and with shoreline restoration. They constructed oyster mats and bags and helped with deployments at shoreline restoration sites. That volunteer work stopped with Covid in 2020, but the two continued volunteering together in MDC’s horseshoe crab monitoring program and remain active in that program.
“To get involved at MDC when we first moved here was definitely worthwhile,” said Cheryl. “We also wanted to become part of this community and being at MDC gave us a place to do that.”
Now, the two are hoping to get involved with maintaining MDC’s seagrass tanks, as well as in the center’s “Adopt-a-Garden” program, in which volunteers adopt a portion of the bird garden or butterfly garden and maintain their designated section.
“Cheryl and I aren’t worried about getting our hands dirty,” said Holly, who is just shy of her master gardener certification in New Jersey, where she oversaw some programs while living in Pennsylvania.
But while the two have given freely of their time as volunteers, they also have decided to give to MDC financially and have included the nonprofit in their trust.
“We donate to larger wildlife groups and we wanted to do something local,” said Cheryl. “We have watched MDC’s progress from when we first started volunteering here some 10 years ago and it’s been phenomenal. We like the idea of legacy and of giving to a place that is going to continue.”
And while the two have been involved exclusively with MDC’s conservation program, they recognize the importance of the center’s education component.
“It’s about the future and it’s extremely important,” said Holly. “It’s about paying it forward and trying to keep MDC preserved as the Florida resource that it is.”
Cheryl likes to quote a Kenyan proverb that resonates with her, saying, “Treat the earth, not as if your parents gave it to you, but as if your children lent it to you.”
“That makes sense to me,” said Cheryl. “We have to do something to preserve what we have and what will be going forward to the next generations. It truly is a legacy thing.”
“It’s up to the next generation to carry a lot of things forward in this country and places like MDC teach kids things they need to learn now,” added Holly. “We are fortunate that we’re able to give and we want what we can give to go to organizations that will hopefully be here and continue to do good work for a long time.”
If you would like to know more about ways to incorporate Marine Discovery Center into your financial giving plans, please click here.
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