Appreciating our Volunteers
As cold weather and snow slowly begins moving in, our work party schedule shortens as we narrow our focus to trails that are accessible in the winter months. It is also the time of year that we reflect on all of the impressive work that was completed by volunteers throughout the year.
So far in 2009, WTA has seen an all-time high number of individual volunteers. As of Oct 20, over 2,000 individuals have joined a work party, and this will likely climb to over 2,200 by years’ end (a 16% increase from 2008). In the summer months alone (July – Sept) 1,100 people joined a work party. This year we also saw a higher number of new volunteers – nearly 1,231 people tried trail work with WTA for the first time, and 402 of those people returned for more!
More volunteers = more work accomplished on trails. The average number of people per work party increased by 7% in 2009, boosting WTA's hours above 85,000. Other factors that brought in new volunteers include WTA's regional presence in Eastern Washington which drew over 100 local volunteers who contributed to 2,700 hours of maintenance on trails in the Colville National Forest and trails within Spokane. And WTA's expanding BCRT program drew volunteers looking for a more challenging experience, providing 4,642 hours of maintenance on trails in the more remote areas of our state.
Although trails can’t talk, we certainly know they would like to say “thank you” for all of this work. So, on behalf of the trails, WTA would like to personally and properly thank each volunteer who participated in 2009 at one of our regional volunteer appreciation events:
- Friday, November 6 – Seattle REI, begins at 5:30pm
- Sunday, November 22 – Vancouver, WA, Marshall Community Center, begins at 4:30pm
- Saturday, December 5 – Olympic Peninsula, Quilcene Community Center, begins at 1pm
- Saturday, Dec 12 – Spokane, Mountain Gear community room, begins at 4pm
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