Volunteer’s 2018 Year in Review
As we wrap up 2018, we are taking some time to look back and appreciate the amazing work and opportunities created by volunteers over this past year. We had incredible amounts of fun with you all – and are continuously impressed by the work accomplished.
Volunteers planted 6,215 plants, potting up 5,000 more in our nursery, and gave over 16,000 volunteer hours at more than 50 sites. All told, nearly 4,000 volunteers helped support the Greenway restore more than 28 acres of public land.
We believe when we are connected to nature, our lives are better. Out on the trail, alongside a creek, or within a future urban forest, we saw this come to life in your enthusiasm, attitude, and efforts. Working together, you moved mulch mountains, grappled with blackberry, and hiked up mountains throughout the Greenway.
Volunteers this year went beyond the tread in the Middle Fork Valley, continuing sustainable trail work as well as incorporating important trailside habitat restoration practices to prevent and contain invasive species spread in the valley, and keep trail users on the right path. Thanks to our volunteer’s sharp eye to spot out Himalayan blackberry and dive into Hügelkultur, we can look forward to keeping the Middle Fork Valley in pristine conditions.
As the wet weather (eventually) returned, volunteers dug in, moved mulch and partnered up to plant thousands of native plants this fall. Whether it was your first or your thousandth native plant you planted in the Greenway, you helped build urban forest and improve riparian habitat for native salmon.
Students, co-workers, new friends and old, joined together to make up an empowered Greenway volunteer community. The diggin’ wasn’t always easy, and the gravel buckets weren’t always light, but these challenges were no match against your determination and hard work. To see your work in action, check out some photos here.
The Greenway is better because you’re in it – and even more because you care. Our trails, parks, open spaces, partners and organization thank you. Bring it on, 2019, because these volunteers know how to leave their mark. There will be plenty of opportunities to pick up a shovel or Pulaski again in the new year, so be sure to check our volunteer calendar and join us out on Squak Mountain or at our native plant nursery in January!
