Wishing you good times, good cheer
and a memorable new year.
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We want to thank you for your support this past year. Over 4,500 of you volunteered more than 34,000 hours of service (Valued at more than $850,000), in 2018. We hope to see you again in this new year! We're excited to announce our 2018 Volunteer Award Winners below. Please tune into Cable Channel 7 DMTV to watch, Tuesday, January 22 at 5:00 p.m. as we honor our volunteers during our Park and Recreation Board meeting.
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Mary P. Smith has volunteered at the City Greenhouse for over a decade, donating nearly 800 hours (valued at more than $19,000). Each day she arrives with a smile, sense of dedication and purpose to make our community better. She performs high quality work and encourages others to do the same. Smith has helped recruit greenhouse volunteers through the years and has been a spokesperson to the media sharing the greenhouse volunteer story. She will be honored with the 2018 Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award for her commitment to beautifying our community and her years of service.
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Des Moines native Archie Cook has volunteered with Woodland Cemetery tours for more than 20 years. The Grand View University History and Education graduate shadowed Gerald LeBlanc until taking over the guided walks. Cook leads 2 ½ hour walking tours from April to October, including coordinating reservations this year for 350 participants. The tours dive into the city’s past and highlight achievements of men and women that shaped the community. Cook served on our Cemetery Citizen Advisory Committee and assists with historical/genealogy research. For his passion and dedication to our cemeteries and our city’s history, we honor him as our 2018 Volunteer of the Year.
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Corporate Group of the Year
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Knapp Properties, a community leader for decades, stepped forward in 2018, donating almost $10,000 in volunteer time and $75,000 for a new Evelyn K. Davis Park playground. Knapp has generously supported park programming and amenities over the years, helping the vision for this park and the neighborhood become a reality. Their volunteers helped transform the park this year including cleaning the site, painting the shelter and gates, planting trees, organizing recreational family activities, building a playground and more. They will be honored with the 2018 Corporate Volunteer Group of the Year for continuing to help make our parks and community a safe, fun and welcoming place through ongoing programming, volunteers and capital improvements.
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Bridges of Iowa are building a better bridge to the future. They work in our community to create graduates that will live a life free from substance abuse and criminality, becoming contributing members of their families and society and working to explore and develop their individual faith along their journey. This is the sixth year of our partnership with Bridges and it continues to grow. This year they've donated almost 600 hours of service mulching playgrounds, helping with plantings, clearing trees, cleaning pots, working in our Rose Garden and more. By volunteering , their clients build leadership skills and develop a sense of work ethic and community. They will be honored for their ongoing dedication and service as the 2018 Volunteer Group of the Year.
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In 2017, Mike Simonson and Buzz Brenton helped establish a pilot public/private partnership project matching private donations, city support and volunteers to restore the cemetery. This year, Simonson volunteered to continue fundraising, project planning and overseeing restoration efforts. Again, he got another $50,000 commitment of public and private dollars, including his own, to raise and reset hundreds of stones. Simonson’s vision now includes almost 200 volunteers who’ve donated almost $20,000 of support hand cleaning the stones, in addition to his fundraising dollars these past two years. We honor him as one of our 2018 Friends of the Year for his Woodland Cemetery Memorial Restoration Project and commitment to preserving the history of our community and the memories of those that helped build it.
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The Des Moines Police Department has contributed in many ways over the last year throughout our community. They led youth, during school breaks, in volunteer activities in our parks and cemeteries, donating over $3400 in service this year. They helped the youth learn skills to make them be successful in school and their community. The police department has built strong relationships in our neighborhoods serving at our Jingle Bell parties, Fall Family Fun Fest and Free Flicks movie series and they helped us build the new Evelyn K. Davis playground to revitalize the neighborhood. The Fourmile Community Recreation Center Kids vs. Cops program, gives off-duty officers the chance to play youth in various activities including; dodgeball, basketball, floor hockey. We honor them as one of our 2018 Friends of the Year for their incredible support and work fostering relationships with community youth and neighborhoods.
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Ahman Douglass has coached youth basketball for several years. Coach Douglass works well with parents, kids and referees. Many referees appreciate his positive coaching style. Douglass shares words of encouragement to not only with his team but the opposing teams as well. He is often heard complimenting players as they run down the court. Parents continue to request Coach Douglass each year and appreciate the team bond he creates with the children. He is a great representative of our sports program and what a coach should be on and off the court. For his outstanding coaching and service to the City, we honor him as the 2018 Volunteer Coach of the Year.
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Volunteer Supervisor of the Year
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Colt Stephens hosts volunteers year-round in the greenhouse but during his busiest season from March through May, he has volunteer shifts twice a day almost daily. He is organized, prepared and committed to running a high-quality greenhouse and volunteer operation. Stephens welcomes the diversity of volunteers - young and old, community service and corporate. He has taken an intense growing operation and made it as efficient and fun as possible, bringing volunteers back year after year. Stephens uses his knowledge of plants to educate the volunteers. He works tirelessly to make sure our volunteers have an enjoyable experience and our city is beautiful. We honor him as our 2018 Volunteer Supervisor of the Year.
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Kevin Atterberg served as our 2018 Iowa S.T.E.M. Teacher Extern. Atterberg, a former Nebraska Ag Teacher of the Year, and Stillwell Junior High science teacher donated more than 240 hours researching monarchs and their habitat in our parks. Through his volunteer experience he learned real-world applications that he could transfer into educational opportunities in his classroom. He mapped existing monarch habitat and identified potential habitat for conservation planning efforts. Atterberg took the initiative to go above and beyond walking every single park and identifying and mapping milkweed species and numbers of plants. We will honor Kevin Atterberg with a 2018 Special Award for his volunteer conservation work
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Family Fun Night: Science Valentines
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February 15, 4:30-8:00 p.m.
Pioneer Columbus Community Recreation Center, 2100 SE 5th
Feeling crafty? We need 4 friendly volunteers to help us celebrate Valentine's Day in our Community Recreation Center! Volunteers will be provided training and supplies to create fun valentines with families and kids.
Crafts may include:
• Dancing Conversation Hearts
• Fizzing Hearts Art
• Circuit Valentines
• Crystal Growing
• Sharpie/Alcohol Valentines
• Skittles Rainbows
• How Tall Towers
• Chromatography Butterflies
*NOTE: Background check required.
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March 15-May 10
Fridays, 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
City of Des Moines Greenhouse
2501 SE Maury
Beat those winter blues! Volunteer in the City of Des Moines Greenhouse and help grow over 200,000 plants that beautify our public spaces, parks, schools, and more adding value to our community. Let us know if you have a group of 5-10 people that can help transplant seedlings! All training is provided on-site. Group openings fill fast and are on a first-come, first-served basis.
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City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation
1551 E MLK Jr Pkwy | 515-237-1386 | www.dmparks.org
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