Friends of Trees celebrates 2011 volunteer leaders
On Sunday, May 1, key Friends of Trees volunteer leaders gathered at Friends of Trees for the annual potluck celebration and awards ceremony honoring crew leaders, neighborhood coordinators, and office volunteers.
In addition to celebrating all of our volunteer leaders, whose contributions made this year’s growth and success possible, the following 2011 awards were presented:
Conan Harmon-Walker—Volunteer of the Year
Brian Symes—Neighborhood Trees Crew Leader of the Year
Endre Elteto—Green Space Initiative Crew Leader of the Year
Lou Gottfried—Neighborhood Trees Rookie of the Year
Sue Wiff—Green Space Initiative Rookie of the Year
St. Johns, University Park, Cathedral Park, Kenton & Portsmouth—Neighborhood Planting of the Year
Chihiro Aldrich—Office Volunteer of the Year
The following are neighborhood coordinators who organized the Neighborhood Plantings of the Year: Christina Pucci and Josh Guerra (St. Johns), Cody Newton (Cathedral Park), Matt Krueger (University Park), Lori Krampetz and Alyssa Phelps (Kenton), and Susan Landauer (Portsmouth).
Honorable mentions for annual volunteer awards include the following:
David Hyde—Volunteer of the Year
Josh Springer—Neighborhood Trees Crew Leader of the Year
Caela Levy—Green Space Initiative Crew Leader of the Year
Leah Haykin—Neighborhood Trees Rookie of the Year
Kenny Symonds—Green Space Initiative Rookie of the Year
Centennial, Hazelwood & Mill Park—Neighborhood Planting of the Year
Sochetra Ly—Office Volunteer of the Year
Neighborhood coordinators for the honorable mention Neighborhood Planting of the Year are the following: Greg Perry (Centennial), Vinette Kennedy-Scott (Hazelwood), and Teresa Collins (Mill Park).
You can read more about the awards on our Volunteer Awards web page. Check out the above slide show from the Sunday potluck.
Our incredible volunteer leaders and volunteer planters helped us accomplish the following during the 2010-11 planting season:
Our Green Space Initiative program hosted 43 percent more planting events this year than in the previous season, saw a 63 percent increase in number of volunteers, and planted 71 percent more trees and native plants—more than 24,000 in all.
Our Neighborhood Trees program planted a record number of 4,545 street and yard trees and hosted the biggest Neighborhood Trees planting day to date, with 527 trees planted on one day in five North Portland neighborhoods.
Many thanks to all of our volunteers and supporters for making this such an amazing season!
–TR