GREAT NEWS! Environmental Nature Center (ENC) volunteer Alice Apkarian was named a Cox Conserves Heroes Award finalist! The award honors individuals who volunteer their time to create, preserve and enhance greenways, waterways and public areas. The finalists are profiled on the Cox Conserves Heroes website, where YOU vote online for your favorite. (We hope you’ll vote for Alice!)
Alice, an ENC Museum Docent and 2011 Volunteer of the Year, has been volunteering every week at the ENC since 2008 – over 200 hours each year. The Cox Conserves Heroes award was developed by the Trust for Public Land and Cox Enterprises to honor individuals who volunteer their time to create, preserve, enhance greenways, waterways and public areas.
In addition to greeting visitors and answering their questions, Alice has taken on many administrative duties that ENC staff has come to depend on. She helps with editing, data entry, database management, program evaluation, etc. If these “behind the scenes” tasks were not accomplished, the ENC would not be able to provide quality education through hands-on experience with nature.
“Our staff already wears several hats, teaching and managing the facility,” said ENC Executive Director Bo Glover. “Having a volunteer like Alice accomplish so many unglamorous yet vital aspects of running the nature center makes it that much easier for us to focus on our environmental education programs.”
About the Award
Each Cox community is encouraged to nominate eco-friendly volunteers for the Cox Conserves Heroes Award. The Heroes Judging Circle, a panel of civic leaders within the conservation field, selects the top finalists. The finalists are profiled on the Cox Conserves Heroes website and in local media, during which, the public is asked to vote online for their favorite.
At the conclusion of the voting period, the finalist with the most votes is selected as the Cox Conserves Hero for his or her area. A donation is made on behalf of the Cox Conserves Hero to the finalist’s environmental nonprofit of choice. The winner’s nonprofit of choice receives $5,000, promotions through on-air Public Service Announcements, and 20 volunteer hours donated by Cox employees. The second place finalist’s nonprofit of choice receives $2,500, and the third place finalist’s nonprofit of choice receives $1,000.