Three Rivers Honors 2020 Distinguished Volunteers

September 28, 2020

A group of volunteers poses outdoors for a photo.
The 2020 Distinguished Volunteer Service Award Winners are from left to right: Sea Blake, Anthony van de Ligt, Wendy Andersen, Cheryl Batson, Sara Anderson, Barb Gaasedelen.

Volunteers are vital to the efforts of Three Rivers Park District. Last year, Three Rivers had more than 2,520 ongoing volunteers who donated over 43,919 hours to programs and services within the park system. In recognition of these outstanding contributions, the Park District recognizes a select group of volunteers each year through the Distinguished Volunteer Service Award program.  

Volunteers benefit Three Rivers in many ways, including assisting with nature and recreation-based programming, patrolling slopes and trails, surveying wildlife, assisting with special events and races, habitat restoration, collecting prairie seeds and more.

“The Distinguished Volunteer Service Award program is a way to acknowledge outstanding representatives of our dedicated park volunteers,” says Rebecca Conser, volunteer coordinator for Three Rivers Park District. “Without our volunteers, we simply would not be able to deliver the number of high-quality programs and services to the public that we do.”  

This year’s six Distinguished Volunteer Service Award recipients have contributed a combined total of 8,803 hours of volunteer service to the Park District; 2,020 of those hours occurred in 2019. 

The 2020 recipients are:

  • Wendy Andersen, Animal Care Specialist, Program Assistant, Project Assistant, Natural Resources Monitor, Richardson Nature Center and Natural Resources
  • Sara Anderson, Animal Care Assistant, Program Assistant, Project Assistant, Gale Woods Farm
  • Cheryl Batson, Natural Resources Surveyor, Project Assistant, Natural Resources and Eastman Nature Center
  • Sea Blake, Program Assistant, Silverwood
  • Barb Gaasedelen, Alpine Ski Patroller, Hyland Hills Ski and Snowboard Area
  • Anthony van de Ligt, Program Assistant, Project Assistant, Eastman Nature Center

Learn more about volunteer opportunities with Three Rivers.