In this issue:
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Volunteers Do Make It Happen
by Matt Berres, Director
of Community Action
Potomac Conservancy
Working
for a non-profit organization has afforded me the first-hand opportunity
to witness the amazing generosity and selfless commitment to a greater
good of my fellow Americans. I am talking about the remarkable role that
volunteers play in helping the Potomac Conservancy fulfill its mission
of protecting and restoring the Potomac River.
The Potomac Conservancy is a small organization by most standards. With a fulltime staff of only six we rely heavily on the talent, dedication, and people power of volunteers. Last year alone, volunteers contributed well over 6,000 hours of service to help clean up tons of trash from the Potomac, plant hundreds of riverside trees, collect thousands of native tree seeds for restoration projects, stuff envelops, plan events and so much more. That is the equivalent of at least three full-time staff people!
This spring Bridging the Watershed students from Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria participated in a service-learning program with the Conservancy to remove English Ivy damaging forestland within the C&O Canal National Historical Park near Cabin John, Maryland. Over a period of two days, students clipped, pulled and bagged ivy vines freeing dozens of mature trees and clearing several hundred square feet of forest floor. Not only did the students learn a little botany and help protect sensitive parkland resources, they learned to work together as a team and the value of volunteering.
The Conservancy counts on volunteers like you to protect the Potomac. Volunteers do make it happen!
