Pledge Per Paddle

Some people canoe or kayak for fun—but Margo Pellegrino is doing it for her children’s future.

Pellegrino, a New Jersey mom of two, is in the midst of an 11-week, Miami-to-Maine trip in a 20-foot-long kayak. Her goal is to raise money for groups trying to solve coastal environmental problems, including the Surfrider Foundation, Oceana, and the Mordecai Island Land Trust. She’s been an active canoer and kayaker since she was a preteen, but the birth of her children, ages five and two, as well as some articles about our collapsing fisheries refocused her concern about what we’re doing to our nation’s waterways. “My kids have inspired me,” she told New Jersey Monthly recently. “There’s no way that they will be able to enjoy a healthy ocean, clean beaches, and an abundance of seafood if we continue to degrade the ocean at the rate we’re going. Like any parent, I want what’s best for them.”

Paddling an average of 25 to 35 miles per day, Pellegrino is subsisting on energy bars and water packs stowed aboard her 18-inch-wide craft, but she’s also enjoying normal meals and some good nights’ rest at the homes of sponsors and other supporters along the route.

You can track her current position, read about her progress, and donate to her cause via her Maimi2Maine blog.