I love when I see volunteers taking initiative. It shows me that they feel a sense of ownership and value in the work they do at the EV. The past 6 months have thrown us so many curve balls. As a staff of 9, we can accomplish a finite amount of work. But, with a dedicated group of volunteers, there is no end to where environmental education can go.
Here are just a few examples of our fabulous volunteers, taking some amazing initiative:

Volunteers Joyce Rice (pictured) and Diane McCoy volunteered at our outdoor “open hours” this summer. It was a new experience for everyone and they learned what visitors wanted to know about and took initiative to make a great experience. Diane says “We created and added a few things based on customer questions and interests. Joyce holds up two of them; A beaks and feet chart and a map of the paths out at the Baylands. Both have been laminated for cleaning and repeated use.”
Come visit the next time you’re near the Palo Alto Baylands!
Every Friday, 10 am to 1 pm
First and Third Saturday of every month, 10 am to 1 pm.
We had so many volunteers working on projects this summer to ensure our programs will work virtually and eventually in-person in a safe way. We cannot thank them enough! Elementary students will still receive quality environmental education because of them! Pictured above is a project that volunteers Hazel Watson and Agnes Veith initiated and did a wonderful job! They recognized that the learning curve to understand the technical side of delivering online programs would be pretty big for most volunteers. So, they created a wonderfully helpful presentation to teach their fellow volunteers how to screen share and more.
Thank you to all our volunteers who help make environmental education during a pandemic possible!
By Molly Landrith, EV Volunteer Coordinator