Most nonprofits will agree that their volunteers are priceless. While there is no way to quantify the value of their passion and dedication, we can put a price on volunteer labor. GVC has benefited from 1800+ volunteer hours, or approximately $60,000, from January - September 2022...and that doesn't include the majority of our fall tree planting season!

Each year, GVC staff put our heads together to identify exceptional volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their contributions. We were fortunate enough to celebrate our volunteers at an intimate (non-virtual!) gathering the other night. Special thanks to Dejon Vineyard for providing the perfect location and wine selection, and An Etch Above for the beautiful, personalized plaques.

Without further ado, we are excited to share with you our 2022 Volunteer Award Winners!

2022 Charlie Conklin Volunteer Leader of the Year Award:

Jonas Mihal, Eagle Scout

Several years ago, we re-named our Volunteer Leader of the Year Award to commemorate Charlie Conklin and his unparalleled spirit of volunteerism. While you might expect such wisdom from more seasoned volunteers, we have been fortunate to benefit from such potential in one of our youngest volunteer leaders.

Jonas Mihal, pictured above with his award's namesake, has spent the past year as a Tree Planting apprentice of sorts, attending numerous trainings and learning from his GVC peers. Jonas gained experience planning all aspects of a tree planting as part of his Eagle Scout project in conjunction with GVC. On November 5th, Jonas successfully led his own GVC Tree Planting event at his alma mater, St. James Academy in Monkton. Jonas was clearly a natural as he shared his knowledge with 18 volunteers from his Boy Scout Troop as well as St. James Academy alumni.

2022 GVC Community Leader of the Year Award:

Mary Triandafilou, Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church

It should come as no surprise that Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church values nature given its idyllic location within a forested area off of Cub Hill Road in Parkville. In 2021, church members participated in a Green Team training with Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake. In 2022, the newly-formed Saint Demetrios Green Team worked with GVC on a yearlong project to incorporate Bay-Wise practices on-site.

Mary Triandafilou was hands down the driving force of this project. She represented the Green Team at many meetings and was generous with her time even when plans had to be modified on short notice. Mary was adept at mobilizing her congregation to attend GVC workshops and, more often than not, she was right alongside them getting her hands dirty for clean water. Her involvement began when she and her husband, Lou, adopted the stream that runs through the Saint Demetrios property. It has been an honor to watch Mary grow as an environmental steward. Congratulations, Mary! We look forward to working with you and your Green Team colleagues for many years to come.

Last, but certainly not least, we also honored several volunteers with Certificates of Recognition for their outstanding work over the past year.

GVC is very fortunate to be one of several environmental organizations in the Baltimore region to benefit from Carl Gold's extra time. Within the past year, Carl has quickly become a familiar face at GVC events. During tree planting season, he shows other volunteers how to properly plant native trees that will help reduce pollution from stream erosion. As a GVC Stream Captain, he also monitors a local waterway that flows from Loch Raven Reservoir through his suburban neighborhood in Towson.

Click here to watch our next GVC Grows video to hear Carl explain why he works with GVC to grow clean water for future generations.

We are VERY close to raising $10,000 through our end of year appeal. Can you help us reach our $16,500 goal before December 31st? All donations will be matched. This means that you can DOUBLE your support of GVC's volunteer leaders so that they have hands-on opportunities to become confident environmental stewards in the Gunpowder Watershed and beyond.

If you have already made a donation, THANK YOU! Please share this message with local friends and family who also value the Gunpowder River, our Chesapeake Connection.