Volunteers make Halloween a Night to Remember!

Many thanks to the dozens of organizations and hundreds of volunteers who shared part of their Halloween night to host a game or activity at the Tiger Night of Fun. TNOF is organized by Columbia Parks & Recreation and held at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse. The event is a Columbia tradition! Here are a few photos of volunteers before the doors opened and hundreds of kids and families entered the fieldhouse. Thanks, volunteers, for making this a safe and fun night for our community!

Hinkson Clean Sweep is a big success!

Many thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who came out this morning to participate in the 6th annual Hinkson Clean Sweep! The rainy weather earlier in the week reduced the number of available cleanup sites, but the bright, sunny day brought out the volunteers! Many organizations worked together to make the event a success. Read more at: http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Volunteer/HinksonCleanSweep2009.php.

Volunteers plant the 763 roundabout

If you travel through the north end of Columbia, take a minute to check out the roundabout located at 763/VV/Prathersville Road. A group of 24 volunteers shared Saturday morning to plant the bed with a variety of trees, shrubs and perennials. This bed will be adopted by the Cosmo Clubs of Columbia and many of their members came out to plant, along with a group of MU student athletes and a few other dedicated volunteers!

This was the larges Adopt A Spot project we have under taken and think it will be enjoyed by the thousands of people who travel through this intersection every day!

MU Greek Service Day - Sept. 26

Saturday, September 26 was the MU Greek Service Day, and the City of Columbia benefited from the time and hard work of these MU students! A group of nearly 20 helped in Chapel Hill Road by adding landscaping to three beds located just west of Scott Boulevard while another 200+ worked with Public Works to pick up litter in the Hinkson Creek. Thanks, MU students, for a great day! You made a difference!

Volunteers lend a hand at the Heritage Festival

Did you enjoy the 32nd annual Heritage Festival? If you did, you were one of thousands of residents and visitors who enjoyed the beautiful fall weather at this event held Sept. 19 & 20 at Nifong Park. Assisting Parks & Rec staff with this event was more than 75 volunteers who helped primarily in the children's activity area. Above are a few photos of the volunteers helping kids and their families and having fun! Thanks, volunteers - you helped make the Heritage Festival a success!

Volunteers make the Creative Kids event a success!

Many thanks to the more than 20 volunteers who helped with games and activities for kids at the "Creative Kids" Family Fun Fest on Sept. 16 at Flat Branch Park. Volunteers helped with face painting, with Box City, with the magnetic poetry wall, with the Public Works Recyclebration Area as well as many other craft activities for kids and their families. Thanks, volunteers, for making memories for hundreds of kids and their families!

Jr. Leadership Columbia cleans up Flat Branch

Twenty-five local high school students in Jr. Leadership Columbia picked up trash in Flat Branch Creek on Monday night, Sept. 14 as part of their session on volunteering. The group learned about all the great reasons and ways to volunteer, including comments from Leigh Britt, City Volunteer Coordinator, and Michael Heimos, City Stormwater Outreach Coordinator. In just over 30 minutes, this group picked up several bags of trash from the stream along Flat Branch Park. Thanks, Jr. Leadership Columbia!

TreeKeepers assist in the city nursery

TreeKeeper volunteers gathered at the Parks & Rec tree nursery near Cosmo Park on Saturday morning, Sept. 12 to help deer proof the trees. They installed wire fencing around several trees, applied Irish Spring soap and deer repellent. They also removed honeysuckle from a large area near the park. Thanks, TreeKeepers, for your hard work!!

Volunteering never goes on vacation!

Volunteers have been busy in the month of August helping with events with Columbia Parks and Recreation. Volunteers shared their time with the Flat Branch Movie Night, the Family Fun Fest and with Punt, Pass & Kick. Many thanks to the Columbia Rotary Club who have helped now for three consecutive years with the PPK event!

Landscaping at Broadway/Old 63

Hundreds of residents drive through the intersection of Broadway and Old 63 every day. If you are one of them you have seen some changes this year! The folks at Boone Hospital have landscaped the bed at the northwest corner and soon you'll see landscaping installed at the southeast corner by Missouri Cancer Associates.

Today we had a group of young men from the Boone County Juvenile office help weed the southeast bed in preparation for the landscaping.... we're making progress!

The City of Columbia has nearly 95 Adopt A Spots all over town maintained by volunteers. We appreciate their hard work to make our city look good!!

TreeKeepers work on the Bear Creek Trail at Garth

If you use the Bear Creek Trail, and travel through the Garth Avenue Trailhead, it is likely you saw some changes after Saturday morning! A dozen TreeKeeper volunteers, along with Chad and Dave with Columbia Parks & Rec., were up bright and early Saturday morning to trim the trees around the parking lot and also cut back tree growth along the trail.

Thanks to Herman, Bill, Richard, Becky, Clare, Dave, Blair, Angela, Vanessa, Amber, Mary Jo, Jacob and Amy for sharing their time!

Mary Jo and Richard work on trimming a tree near the parking lot entrance.

Amber and Angela decide on the next step trimming a tree along the Bear Creek Trail.

Clare and Bill work on trimming a tree back in the parking lot.

Volunteers go Around the World

Last night Columbia Parks & Recreation held the monthly Family Fun Fest at Flat Branch Park. This month's them was Around the World. Many thanks to the more than 15 volunteers who led games or helped with face painting. It was a beautiful night and a big turnout! The volunteers who helped had fun and created a great experience for kids and their families.

Stay tuned... there are three more Family Fun Fests this year: August 19, September 16 and October 21. Let us know if you can help - volunteer@GoColumbiaMo.com or 874-7499.

Youth In Action volunteers have fun with a ball-passing game.

Lindsay leads a group of kids in Achi, an African version of tic-tac-toe.

Kristin and Jon lead a Mexican bean throwing game.

Notes on volunteering - odds and ends!

The posts the last few weeks have been sparse, so I thought I would share a few items today!

I had the great pleasure of attending the National Conference on Volunteering & Service in San Francisco on June 21-24. The highlight was the opening session that featured First Lady Michelle Obama, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver and entertainers Jon Bon Jovi and Matthew McConaughey. Quite a cast! It is wonderful that the President and First Lady have such an interest in supporting service... and people are taking note! California is doing some progressive things related to volunteering, including a cabinet post dedicated to service.

I so appreciate the support these officials and celebrities give to service, but I don't want to lose sight of all the hundreds of people who have served on a regular basis for years! Sometimes these new campaigns make it sound like volunteering is a new thing when really it's been part of our community for years.

I also discovered how special Columbia is to have an office dedicated to volunteering within our local government. Of the 5,000 who attended the conference, fewer than 30 worked to manage volunteers within local government. Thanks to our city leaders for making this investment.

On the local front:

• Many thanks to the 18 TreeKeepers and 12 disc golf club members who worked at Oakland Park on Saturday, June 27 remulching the course and pruning.
• Last November, a large group of volunteers worked on a sidewalk assessment project in cooperation with GetAbout Columbia. This week I had a note from the project manager, Kristin Re. While she sent the note to me, the thanks goes to the volunteers who shared their time:
  I wanted to send a thank you for helping to garner volunteers to quantify sidewalk accessibility. Without your help and the community's, I would not have been able to collect the data. With the data I was able to present the current conditions to city council and they agreed to repair the measured 18 square blocks. This is a wonderful example of how the community can unite to make the environment usable for every citizen regardless of abilities.

Have a great day --

Leigh Britt

Stream Extravaganza!

Last night was the fifth annual Stream Extravaganza, held this year as part of the Family Fun Fests at Flat Branch Park. The purpose of the event is raise awareness about protecting our water and educating the public on watersheds and local environmental activities.

Although the incoming storm cut the event short, there were still dozens of people who attended. Thanks to the dozen volunteers who helped put on the event in addition to the many local organizations who participated to talk about their efforts to protect the environment.

Jennifer Mantler looks on after getting two young festival attendees started casting with the fishing poles.

Youth In Action volunteer Kit Webster helps a young man find his watershed on the map.

CARP volunteers work at Auburn Hills Park

Saturday morning, May 30, a group of CARP volunteers converged at Auburn Hills Park in north Columbia to plant the shoreline of the pond. Debra Hardin from the Office of Volunteer Services was on hand and snapped these shots. CARP volunteers work in support of horticulture staff with Columbia Parks & Recreation. Many thanks to these volunteers for sharing their time, their muscles and their passion for the environment!

Fairview 4-H Members pick up trash at Flat Branch

Many thanks to the Fairview 4-H club for picking up litter in Flat Branch creek on May 14. Trash pick up in a local stream has been an annual activity for the club. You can see their pile of filled trash bags... they picked up 15 bags of trash! We appreciate this group of kids and parents helping to make Columbia a better city.

Volunteer Reception May 21

Thursday, May 21 was the city's annual volunteer appreciation reception. More than 180 volunteers and staff gathered at the Elk's Lodge east of Columbia for a light meal, entertainment by Bill Thompson and Sherri Homan and a THANK YOU for all their hard work!
In the food line... always a popular place!

Ed Kaiser receives the plaque as the first Lang Award winner from Mayor Pro Tem Laura Nauser.

Farah and Barb enjoy the event. They are both Adopt A Spot Beautification volunteers!