Volunteer personified is vital to success of sanctuary in the upper Keys

In the most recent fiscal year that ended September 30, more than 350 volunteers logged 2,826 hours of service to Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, numbers that rival pre-pandemic totals.

There are volunteers and then there is Terry Helmers, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s MVP of lending time and talent (that’s MVP for Marine Volunteer Personified). The 70-year-old retired IT administrator just completed fabrication of more than 30 buoy downlines that are being attached to new anchors in the sanctuary’s rapidly-expanding network of mooring buoys. “Buoys are appealing for me,” Helmers says, “because when you get all done putting a buoy in, just as you’re leaving a boat with a family pulls up and ties up to your brand-new buoy. I did that. You can enjoy that buoy because I did that.”

Helmers’ near-lifetime of public service began in 1986, when the Miami native reached out to Biscayne National Park because he “wanted to start diving and boating for a reason—a purpose—instead of just wandering around.” At that time he was in the early years of an IT career at the University of Miami, his alma mater, when Biscayne brought him on to volunteer with shipwreck history, and he was able to spread out his four weeks of annual leave from UM to be available for nearly one weekday, in addition to weekend work. In 1999, when the park moved into the mooring buoy business, the star volunteer was tapped to establish that program.

Fast forward to 2019 when Helmers and his wife retired to Key Largo, where he walked into the nearby sanctuary office of maritime archaeologist Matt Lawrence with information about the Totten Beacons at Biscayne National Park, part of the system of historic navigation aids that stretches all the way to Key West 

“Even more impressive was the work that he had done to search Miami newspapers to compile stories on maritime heritage,” said Lawrence. “I thought, this guy is committed. He’s exceptional and there’s nothing that he’s not willing to take part in to further the sanctuary’s mission.”

Helmers was already certified as a National Parks Service diver when he joined the sanctuary, but Lawrence quickly got his new volunteer on track to be certified under the NOAA diving protocols.  That made him even more valuable. “If you’re a diver and you’re in this building, somewhere along the line you’re gonna do buoy work,” Helmers quipped. 

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary maintains one of the largest buoy systems anywhere, which places a premium on the human resources needed to maintain it. “With legendary underwater skills, it is no exaggeration to say that Terry Helmers is a real life Aquaman,” said buoy team leader Brady Booton. “Terry’s overall contribution has literally made all of the difference in helping to ensure that the majority of the upper Keys marine community’s favorite sites have buoys on them. He has proven to be an invaluable resource for the sanctuary and we are so thankful for his volunteer time!”

To date, Helmers has logged nearly 800 hours with the sanctuary, underscoring the vital role of volunteers in the sanctuary’s mission. “Our volunteers are an amazing group of passionate people with diverse talents,” said volunteer coordinator, Liz Trueblood, “Some volunteer a few hours a month, others for several hours a week. This adds up to over 2500 hours per year.”

It was hardly a surprise when Helmers was recognized earlier this year as Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Volunteer of the year, but that kind of recognition is far from novel.  Helmers has also won three regional superintendent’s awards from the National Parks Service, which eventually nominated him for a Presidential Volunteer Award, and he’s added John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to his volunteer schedule, generating yet another award from the Florida State Parks System.

“With government agencies volunteering is much more incorporated into the process,” Helmers says, “so you’re accepted and expected, just like an employee.  During a meeting I was in, a superintendent once said ‘We’re all here for the same reason.  We just get paid different amounts’”.

And it’s not like Helmers gets a lot of grief about being away from home too much.  Wife Ann is just as busy in retirement. She’s the founding president of the non-profit Friends of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. That makes the Helmers household the first family of volunteering in the Florida Keys.

For information on how to volunteer with the sanctuary, visit FloridaKeys.noaa.gov.