On Tuesday, December 3, 2019 a Huddle for 100 volunteer event to revitalize Pelican Island will bring together the Miami Dolphins, the National Football League (NFL), Verizon, the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Dolphins’ players and staff will join others for a native planting and coastal cleanup at Pelican Island as part of the greening of Super Bowl LIV.
The project will begin with a brief ceremony at 9 a.m. at Miami-Dade Parks’ Pelican Harbor Marina, located at 1275 N.E. 79 Street, Miami. A rehabilitated seabird, cared for by the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, will be released. Participants will then board a boat and kayaks and head to Pelican Island. Kayakers will remove litter from the bay and around the island. Volunteers will also remove debris from the island and plant more than 100 native trees and shrubs.
Pelican Island is a 10-acre nature preserve and bird sanctuary, located in Biscayne Bay, approximately 400 yards offshore from Pelican Harbor Marina. Planting native trees and shrubs will enhance and revitalize the natural surroundings of this unique island preserve.
The cleanup will be part of the NFL’s Huddle for 100 initiative, which is an effort to have people donate their time to total 100 million minutes volunteered in honor of the NFL’s 100th season.
NFL Green, in partnership with Verizon, Miami-Dade Parks, the Miami Dolphins and the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee is implementing a series of Super Bowl community greening projects in the months leading up to Super Bowl LIV, with the goal of leaving a positive “green” legacy in the greater Miami area.
Projects to date include a restoration project at Kendall Indian Hammocks Park to remove invasive plants and debris and plant native plants and trees to replace those lost during Hurricane Irma, a beach cleanup, sand dune restoration, tree planting and pollinator garden planting at Crandon Park, and the creation of community gardens and planting of fruit trees at Glenwood Park. In June, 100 staghorn corals were planted near Rainbow Reef in honor of the NFL’s 100th season. The Miami Super Bowl Host Committee Reef was initiated by the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee’s Oceans to Everglades (O2E) environmental program. The coral restoration was conducted in partnership with Force Blue, an organization of retired US Navy SEALs, NFL, University of Miami, Florida DEP, the Frost Science Museum and Verizon.