During National Volunteer Week, April 23 to 29, the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is celebrating the vital role of volunteers who give back so much to nature.
In 2016, nearly 2,780 volunteers contributed almost 7,500 hours of their time at work days and events. Their contributions have enhanced wildlife habitat, improved trails, created pollinator gardens, restored prairie grasslands and removed invasive species.
The GRCA states the impact of this work will last decades into the future — new forests, for example, produce oxygen to purify the air, slow down climate change and floodwaters and provide habitat for wildlife. All of this improves the health and resilience of the watershed. At the same time, volunteer planters become stewards of the future.
The GRCA’s volunteer program also engages volunteers to assist with conservation area special events, such as Family Fun Day at Rockwood Park and Discovery Day at Pinehurst Lake Park.
The GRCA recognizes volunteers, not only for the positive, measurable ways they have improved the landscape, but also for taking an active role in learning about local nature and sharing their expertise through the volunteer program. While less quantifiable, these social benefits are also important. They represent ways in which volunteers empower themselves and others to get outside and take an active role in caring for the watershed in which they live.
“We are thrilled that so many people want to give back to nature close to where they live,” says Bronwen Buck, the GRCA’s volunteer program coordinator. Volunteers who help out at special events emphasize a desire to “pay it forward” by sharing their outdoor skills, such as fishing with people who are new to these experiences.
“When a young person catches a fish for the first time, they just beam. You can’t put a price tag on that,” one volunteer angler told Buck after helping kids fish at a park event.
Anyone who would like to volunteer for the GRCA, should visit www.grandriver.ca/volunteer to learn about volunteer opportunities. Groups, companies and organizations can also contact Bronwen Buck at 519-621-2763, ext. 2239 for assistance organizing their own events. There is a full slate of spring and summer events, and Buck is always interested hearing from new groups.
GRCA volunteers by the numbers 2016
Facts about GRCA volunteers:
– 13,000 trees and shrubs planted;
– 1,400 pounds of litter collected and removed from parks and shorelines;
– 1,200 stems of invasive species removed from natural areas;
– 43 work days held; and
– thousands of visitors have been engaged at park events
“The GRCA gratefully acknowledges the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Grand River Conservation Foundation for supporting the volunteer program,” the authority states.
