Cleanup Columbia 2009 was a big success!

Today was the 13th annual Cleanup Columbia!! With about 2,200 volunteers pre-registered and beautiful weather, we were anticipating a big day. The preliminary reports from 62 groups who have reported help us estimate that:

• 1,695 volunteers participated
• Volunteers picked up 2233 bags of trash
• Participants logged on average 1.84 hours
• Total volunteer hours shared is 3,131

What a fantastic turnout! Thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who shared their Saturday to give their a community a helping hand. We will start making plans next week for Cleanup Columbia 2010... we'll keep you posted!

Congratulations to our Heroes!

Yesterday afternoon was the annual HERO Award presentation sponsored by the Voluntary Action Center and the Columbia Daily Tribune. This is a special recognition each year during National Volunteer Week to recognize volunteers from all over the community as nominated by local nonprofits and agencies.

This year the Office of Volunteer Services nominated Tom Masters, a long-time Park Patrol volunteer, in the individual category, Andrea Steinbach in the youth category and the Aktion Club in the group category.

The Aktion Club won in the group category and we are so proud of them! They have an Adopt-A-Spot Beautification Bed and participate in Cleanup Columbia and do many other things to support the community. They are preparing to provide a meal at the Ronald McDonald House in May.

Pictured above are Margaret Stapley, Aktion Club president, with Gary Taylor from Woodhaven and Andrea Steinbach.

We think all our volunteers are heroes! This program gave us a chance to recognize a few of you for outstanding service.

Cleanup Columbia on-campus supply pickup

Cleanup Columbia, the city-wide trash pick up event, is coming up this Saturday, April 25. With nearly 200 registered groups (families, businesses, scout troops, service clubs and individuals) participating, the logistics for the event can be daunting! Each group has their own assigned location and receives bags, gloves, and vests for their pick up.

This year, we tried something new - an on-campus supply pick up and sign up at MU on Tuesday, April 21. Thanks to a group of Agricultural Education students, Sustain Mizzou and the MSA Campus Community Relations Committee, we made it happen! Eight groups picked up supplies in front of the new bookstore on Rollins Street and three new groups signed up to help.

Many thanks to Kabel Oaks and his classmates for their special help for this new attempt to get more MU students involved with Cleanup Columbia.

Hershey's Track & Field Meet

This morning was the Hershey's Track & Field meet, a children's event organized by Parks & Recreation that was held at Rock Bridge High School. Nearly 30 volunteers spent the morning in the cold, rainy weather to assist in making the event a success. Volunteers served as timers, measurers, orderers, recorders and runners. Thank you, volunteers, for making the Hershey's meet a success!

Volunteers make the Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza a huge success!

Today there were literally hundreds of children and their families at Douglass Park to take in the Parks & Recreation Department's Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza. It was a fantastic event, not just because of the beautiful weather, but also due to the help of nearly 30 volunteers to shared a few hours of their time. Volunteers helped with the egg hunts, staffed games and activities and painted faces. Because of their help, they made Easter weekend a fun and special time for hundreds of Columbia children. Thanks, volunteers!

Caring for Columbia volunteers lend a hand with Adopt-A-Spots

On Saturday, April 4 more than 15 MU students with Caring for Columbia lent a hand to help re-mulch six Adopt-A-Spot Beautification beds located in Blue Ridge Road and Brown Station Road. Their labor was a huge help in getting these beds off to a beautiful start this spring. Many thanks to volunteers to care for 84 beds year-round in our city.

TreeKeepers give away 700 trees on April 4

TreeKeepers celebrated Missouri Arbor Day with their annual tree give away giving away 700 trees Saturday morning at the ARC. The trees were given away to more than 300 area residents in less than 90 minutes!

Friday afternoon, a group of 17 volunteers gathered at the Parks Management Center to wrap and label the trees to prepare for the give away.

Thanks, TreeKeepers, for keeping Columbia green!

Enjoy the Tulips from Plant the Promise

Aren't they beautiful? Tulips are one of the joys of spring, and thanks to the efforts of about 350 local youth, we have 1,300 more to admire this year! Last fall, 21 youth groups from throughout the community planted red tulips as part of "Plant the Promise" - a commitment of your young people to stay drug and alcohol-free. You may see the tulips throughout the community - along streets, near public housing, in the yards of clients of Boone County Council on Aging or here near the Wardrobe.

The Plant the Promise program was coordinated by the city's Office of Volunteer Services and the Youth Community Coalition. We plan to work with youth to install another batch this fall.