-Volunteer Spotlight- April 2012

Frank Oyung

     You won't forget Frank once you meet him. For years he has helped regularly with our restoration work projects, especially ones up in the national forest.  When Frank is not helping CSERC in efforts to restore the environment, he is often busy leading weekly hikes for the Sierra Club to beautiful places all over our region.  For his 80th birthday in 2011, he led a hike up Mt. Hoffman in Yosemite National Park (as he does every year)!  Despite the fact that Frank lives in Groveland, he manages to make the long drive to most of our projects.  Anyone who is lucky enough to work along side him always comments on how impressed they are with his good nature, stamina, and motivation ~ an inspiration for us all!

December 2011 Volunteer of the Month - Carol Stout

     Twain Harte resident Carol Stout started volunteering with CSERC in the spring of 2010.  Until she joined the staff for a gnarly 3-mile hike into the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness to pull invasive bull thistle, no one at CSERC had actually met her.  That soon changed, as she surprised us by quickly becoming CSERC’s most regular volunteer, showing up at almost any workday event our Center holds, big or small.  We estimate she has attended over a dozen work projects, and she has told us many times to make sure and call her if anything else comes up!

     When Julia of our staff asked Carol what drives her commitment to volunteer for our Center she shared, “I was first interested in joining and volunteering with CSERC because I felt that more local support was needed for environmental causes. I continue to volunteer because of the 'camaraderie' of the like-minded people I have met. When I volunteer, I get to spend the day outdoors, in the beautiful Sierras, working on projects that positively affect wildlife and the environment. Who wouldn't want to do that? ”