Editors’ Note: To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, The Window Seat is devoting this week to exploring some of the world’s natural environments, hereby declaring this Nature Week. Through our Nature Week posts, we hope to inspire all travelers to get outside and interact with nature no matter where they happen to be. For more ideas, visit our collection of Children & Nature road trips and volunteer opportunities.
In May of 2007, Mindy Bumgarner from Chatham, Illinois, was the winner of a Change Ambassador grant through Travelocity's TRAVEL FOR GOOD program. She went on her volunteer vacation in November of that year, and traveled to Wamba, Kenya through Earthwatch Institute to work on the Medicinal Plants and Community Water Health project. I wanted to profile Mindy in order to share with our readers her excellent work and to encourage you to get out there and volunteer in nature too.
What sparked your interest in taking a volunteer vacation?
I have done a lot of volunteer work in the past, especially in conservation, and when I found this trip, I knew it was something I really wanted to participate in.
How did you hear about Travelocity’s Change Ambassador program?
I was randomly searching Travelocity for a potential trip one day, when I found the Change Ambassador link and decided to see what it was.
How did you find out you had been awarded the grant?
I received a phone call first asking a few more questions, and at that point, knew I had a good chance because they were able to HEAR my excitement about this possibility. Then, about 2 weeks later, they called to say they had chosen me!
April 18, 2008