Evergreen Audubon hosted our annual banquet on January 10th. It was a lovely evening spent socializing with friends, celebrating the accomplishments of the 2024 calendar year, and looking ahead at the exciting plans for 2025. For a full recap of the evening festivities, check out this article by our Board President, Melissa Leasia. I will cover the Education and Outreach efforts and a few specific volunteer awards.
Our programming efforts exploded in 2024 and we had a whopping 8,300+ engagements! Approximately 1,800 of those engagements were drop-in visits at the Evergreen Nature Center – the remaining 6,500 impacts were through our programs. This is a 38% growth in programming numbers between 2023 and 2024! While our Nature Center impacts are still lower than our numbers at the Warming Hut, we continue to expand our outreach capacity and reach the members of our community. This first full-year of operations will provide a baseline for our impact growth to be measured against. The hope is that we will maintain a trajectory of growth each year, and strive to get the word out to our community about the amazing programs and resources we have to offer.
All these successes are possible because of your continued support, and the incredible work of our staff and volunteers throughout the year. In celebration of our education and outreach volunteers, there were three awards given:
The “You Rock! Award” was presented to Joe Gurrieri for his incredible work with our new geology exhibit at the Evergreen Nature Center! Thank you for the numerous hours spent designing, building, and installing the new exhibit.
The “All-Star Award” was presented to Genevieve Sloan for her numerous hours volunteering with our summer camps! Her joy and enthusiasm for nature is so apparent as she worked with our campers and we are incredibly thankful for all her help!
The “Leader Extraordinaire Award” was presented to Susan Harper for stepping up to lead beginner birding walks! We are so thankful for your leadership and coordination. Thank you for the time and effort you spend planning and leading these programs!
With such a monumental year under our belt, we are looking forward to even more exciting programs in 2025! One of the new programs is a monthly social event at the Nature Center called “Morning Birds & Brews” – a time to meet up with friends, enjoy a warm beverage, and see what birds we can find in the meadow. We also have “Owl Prowls” coming up in February and March – a time to learn about our nocturnal friends, dissect owl pellets, and go out into the night to try and call one in! Lastly, we are launching a new community science project with Evergreen Metro District focused on water quality testing along the Bear Creek Watershed – details will be launched this spring! Check the calendar on our website for program details.
I am beyond excited for another year with our wonderful team! I hope you will consider volunteering this year and working alongside us to continue the growth of this incredible organization. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support! All of this is possible because of YOU!