By Laura Wagner

In the evening of June 5th, almost 60 volunteers joined us at Roy H Murphy Community Center for an evening that celebrated the many volunteers that are the heart of the extensive work Pierce CD does. Attendees enjoyed free food, a plant swap, lawn games, and the opportunity to talk with one another before a brief recognition ceremony. 

Attendees enjoy free food and drinks while listening to the recognition ceremony.

Many thanks to Chronic Tacos and Puyallup Food Bank for catering and donated drinks that contributed to a free dinner for volunteers! Volunteers also had the option to bring potluck goods of their own to the celebration.

Indoor Fun

Volunteers could head over to our "Why do you volunteer" paper to share why they stay involved with Pierce CD. They could also wander over to our Volunteer Superstar photobooth for a picture together. 

Reasons for volunteers' involvement included "to give back to the community who gives me so much", "I learn so much about our environment (parks), it is fun (mostly), I like the people (always)", and "it is fun to make a difference".

Our volunteer Board of Supervisors group together for a photobooth picture

Volunteers loved the opportunity to connect with familiar and new faces over shared love for our Pierce County green spaces. About an hour and a half into the evening’s celebrations, our Volunteer Coordinator Bailey Wambold and Executive Director Dana Coggon recognized the many volunteers that make a difference in Pierce County. Internal PCD volunteers such as the Board of Directors, AmeriCorps members, Washington Conservation Corps, National Civilian Community Corps, Habitat Stewards, Pierce CD interns, and Gleaning Leaders all got a special moment of recognition. 

All volunteers with 10 or more hours listed above had a moment to stand and receive applause, whether they could attend the celebration or not!

Fun in the Summer Sun

Venturing outside provided a warm summer breeze and evening sun for the celebrations. Volunteers could let loose with giant jenga, a ring toss, connect four, or cornhole. If their game playing got too intense, they could cool down with some ice, cold water, and fans at our cooling station. 

Jenga, cornhole, and connect four made for fun bonding activities

We also provided a plant swap table for Pierce CD workers and volunteers alike! Attendees could pick their souvenir of choice from a selection native plants and other garden friendly additions. 

Plant swapping was a perfect activity for so many environmental and plant enthusiasts!

We Love Our Volunteers!

Whether you’ve pulled a dozen weeds or pulled hundreds, planted dozens of trees or gleaned hundreds of pounds of produce, we are so grateful for every one of you! Thanks to the consistent support and participation from volunteers, we’ve done so much together for our community and the environment this year.

Our Harvest Pierce County Team and gleaning volunteers gleaned a record weight of produce last year, distributing produce that would have otherwise gone unused to hunger relief organizations.

Our Water Quality Team have successfully been running regular work party locations at the Peck Property in Puyallup and Waughop Lake in Lakewood for about a year now.

The Environmental Education Team distributed hundreds of salmon eggs to Tacoma schools through our Salmon in Schools Program and hosted hundreds of kids on a salmon release field trip in March thanks to education docents. They also led White River Schools through their first year of raising and releasing salmon in schools with Pierce CD. 

Every one of you makes a difference in the community and we’re so happy to know you all. So many of you choose to join us in our invasive plant removal or native planting work parties regardless of the weather conditions. Some of you come out on those rare sweltering Washingtonian summer days for a work party or glean. Some of you even trek over in warm layers to South Prairie Creek Preserve during chilly fall and winter seasons to remove invasive plants.

All the hard work you do restores and protects Pierce County ecosystems so they can thrive. So much of the work we do couldn’t happen without our volunteers’ love, passion, and determination to serve our local environment and the community that inhabits it. We are so happy to have spent another successful year with you all. With your help, we know this next one will be even better!