Colorado – Littleton School District
Pioneers will work with two grade schools in Littleton to assist with school principal’s requests. Map painting, tools for schools, back pack for homeless, playground restoration and technology support for teachers.
Utah - Beautification of International Peace Gardens at Jordan Park
April 30, May 7 and May 14
9:00AM to 6:00PM
Call Teresa at 801-966-0188 or email dlobato@xmission.com
to sign up for a time during the day
Variety of activities to help with during the day
FAMILY MEMBERS WELCOME
The International Peace Gardens is located on the bank of the Jordan River in Salt Lake City, was founded as a citizenship project and as a lesson in peace and understanding between nations. With grant funds the Pioneers and employees of Qwest will be able to purchase trees and plants in order to replace some of the habitat that has died over the years. Pioneers will work with the Parks Superintendent in order to identify which plants & trees can be replaced. Pioneers will also repaint park benches, bridges and signage. Volunteers will rake, trim, clean the park.
Joint project with AT & T New Mexico Chapter
Smart Bears for Head Starts
Chapters Participating
Arizona/Colorado/Iowa/Nebraska/New Mexico/Utah/Washington
For the past seven years the New Mexico Club has partnered with the New Mexico Head Start Organization to enhance the learning process by distributing over 1300 SMART BEARS (yearly) to Head Start children. Each year the club visits all 19 Head Start centers to provide books and stuffed animals to each of the students. Pioneers bring “Smarty,” (The Bear) along with for our visits. We call him “Smarty” because he “loves to read.” When Pioneers explain this to the children they are really impressed. Smarty is one of the pioneers, dressed in full costume, and really does look like a bear. The program includes reading to the children and telling them why learning to read is so important for their future. Pioneers will distribute over 10,000 books/bears with the help of the Qwest partnership with AT & T.
Contact Cheryl Daughtry for more information at
sddaugh@cox.net or call
520-296-2304.
Minnesota - Personal Care Bags for Veterans
Qwest Pioneers are partnering with Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) to make up to 2,000 personal care bags for the veterans in Minnesota. The project will give a helping hand to the distinguished veterans who served the USA. Any extra money will be used to buy gift cards for haircuts, gas or purchase other items needed to keep warm. Collecting also warm winter mittens, hats, scarves, socks or coats in good condition. For more information contact JoAnn Cooper at
joann.cooper@qwest.com.
Wyoming - Care Packages for Wyoming Deployed Military Troops
Qwest Pioneers are partnering with Job’s Daughters Bethel 33 in Cheyenne and hopefully with Boy and Girl Scouts troops in Cheyenne to assemble 100 care packages to deployed Wyoming service men and women. The project will give a helping hand to the distinguished Wyoming veterans who serve in the military. Each package will also contain a Pioneer camouflage Hug A Bear that the military person can give out to a child. Other groups who partner with the Pioneers will be providing something special from their members to include in the care packages. For more information contact Melanie Tibbitts at
pm1370@qwest.net.
Oregon - Ecological Restoration & Interpretation: Wapato Greenway Access
Wapato Greenway has a diverse variety of habitat types and plays a significant role in the Sauvie Island wildlife complex. It receives a considerable amount of day use visitation by walkers and wildlife observers, especially birders. It consists of lowland river forest, varied shrub layers, perennial wetland areas, and upland oak savannas. It has high potential for interpretive visitation and could be a model for a variety of ecological restoration projects including restoring a portion of the hydrological systems, converting the marsh vegetation from reed canary grass to native grasses and sedges, and restoring oak savanna grasslands along the northern portion.
Qwest Volunteer Activity
The focus of this project would be to restore the oak savanna complex on the northern section of the property, upgrade and beautify parking lot, restore viewing platform and wildlife viewing blind, restore hiking trail, and install interpretive signs.
The Himalayan Blackberry along the northern upland section of the Wapato Greenway has been and continues to expand across what appears to be a remnant Willamette Valley oak savanna. White oaks have been planted in this area in recognition of this shrinking habitat type. Unfortunately, the Himalayan blackberry thickets have been expanding, in some places over-topping the seedling oaks and reducing their viability. These blackberry thickets cover both sides of the hiking trail in this area and greatly reduce the biological diversity of the area as well as reducing the visitor experience of the exploring native Oregon habitats. Volunteer hours are needed to control blackberry and other invasive exotics over time.
Volunteers will plant oaks and other appropriate trees, shrubs and forbs, especially after removal of the blackberry. For more information on how to get involved please call Lynda King at 503-421-8906 or email at
lrking2@yahoo.com.
Watch video of Wapato Park at Sauvie Island
Washington Park Arboretum – the Holly (Ilex) Collection
The Pioneers in Washington state received a $26,000 grant from the national Pioneer organization for this project that marks the volunteer organization's 100th anniversary. To complement the funding, for one year, the Qwest Pioneers will dedicate Centennial Year volunteer hours to caring for the 3-acre habitat where the University of Washington's collection of 139 species of holly plants and trees reside - the Washington Park Arboretum. The Pioneers will volunteer 100 hours every quarter for the Centennial Year - 2011.
The City of Seattle Parks Department (owner of the Arboretum land) and the University of Washington Horticulture Department (owner of the plant collections) will work closely with the Pioneers to determine the appropriate restoration work that will take place over the next year.
BACKGROUND: The Washington Park Arboretum is a 230-acre park that is owned by the
City of Seattle where the City maintains the park-like functions (trails, benches, generalmaintenance), while the
University of Washington owns and cares for all the trees and plant collections. A third organization, the
Arboretum Foundation manages membership and volunteer programs, raises funds and provides public information services for the Arboretum.
Qwest Volunteer Activity
January 8, 2011 at 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Every second Saturday of each month through November
from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
ACTIVITIES: Volunteers will remove invasive species, weed, prune, place bark and mulch, perform berm maintenance and new berm building as well as plant bulbs and plants.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: Because this project is overseen by a research university, there will be many opportunities for the Pioneers and all who participate to learn about Holly plants, trees and shrubs. It’ll be a chance to discover more about the 230-acre Arboretum which houses over 10,000 specimens of living plants. Environmental education topics include sustainability and urban greening and subjects like the human dimensions of urban forestry.