Nisqually Land Trust

Volunteer Program Grants (continued)

From 2010 through 2012, the Land Trust and its volunteers will plant more than 70,000 native trees and shrubs and restore some 200 acres to ecological health.

To accomplish this goal, we will expand participation in our Stewardship Volunteer Program by increasing the number of volunteer land stewards we recruit and train, and we will enhance our internal capacity to contact and track volunteers and place them in stewardship situations that best meet their interests and abilities

Our Stewardship Volunteer Program is carried out mainly through two types of community activities – restoration work parties and site-steward monitoring and maintenance.

Restoration work parties give a broad range of community members a first-hand opportunity to assist with one-day, on-the-ground habitat enhancement – tree planting, weed removal – on a drop-in basis at all of our sites.

By contrast, site stewards are “super volunteers” who “adopt” an individual property and monitor it on a quarterly basis (at the equivalent of one day or eight hours per quarter). Site stewards provide the Land Trust with valuable ongoing information about their properties and perform maintenance on their sites. They also increase the capacity of our overall volunteer program by assisting our professional staff in staging work parties and helping to recruit work-party volunteers.

From mid-2010 through mid-2011 the Land Trust plans to double the number of its annual work parties, to 20, and increase the number of site stewards tenfold, to 30.

The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and Olympia Federal Savings grants will help us recruit and train site stewards and improve our volunteer database so we can better match volunteer abilities and interests with our needs and opportunities. This will greatly increase our ability both to deploy our volunteers efficiently and to assure that they have a satisfying volunteer experience and enjoy a sense of accomplishment.

The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation is a trusted-partner with the Pierce County community, fostering generosity by connecting people who care with causes that matter. Established in 1981, the community foundation provides individuals, families and corporations with the resources and expertise to connect their own values with the philanthropic intent of their choosing. For more information, visit their website at www.gtcf.org.

Since its establishment 1906, "giving back to the place we call home" has been a core value of Olympia Federal Savings bank which serves the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater community. Olympia Federal Savings annually returns in excess of 5% of its earnings to the community, supporting such activities as cultural events, affordable housing, health and human services, children's programs, and numerous charitable organizations. You can find out more at www.olyfed.com.

Thank you
Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
and
Olympia Federal Savings
for your support!