Big Sur Land Trust’s Volunteers of the Year
Special Thanks to Luca Gurdgiev and Tony Vastola
Though we held our virtual volunteer celebration earlier this year, as we close out National Volunteer Month we want to thank all volunteers and congratulate our 2020-21 Volunteers of the Year once again!
When the pandemic hit a year ago, Luca Gurdgiev and Tony Vastola immediately answered our call for project ideas that would meet social distancing requirements.
Luca, our Youth Volunteer of the Year, chose to build bat boxes for Big Sur Land Trust as his Eagle Scout project! Through his research, Luca learned that bat boxes are used in agriculture as an important tool for organic pest control. Thanks to Luca, we’ll be installing bat boxes at Mitteldorf Preserve. Luca also made time in his busy schedule to join this year’s Race for Open Space – we’re so impressed!
Tony, our Volunteer of the Year, used his carpentry skills and tools to build an owl box for Marks Ranch and bat boxes for our other properties. He also took solo hikes to scout for fallen trees at Mitteldorf Preserve and monitored other Big Sur Land Trust properties. We appreciate Tony so much for the many ways he supports our mission!
Emily Cole, Charles Fuller, Morgan Ivens, and Lucy Halse also got a special shout-out at our celebration for giving their time and talents for the lands we all love!
And finally, more gratitude goes out to our Race for Open Space volunteers and those of you who have helped with recent fundraising mailings and assembling Youth Outdoor Program activity kits. We cannot thank you enough!
Volunteers are critical to supporting our mission. Interested in getting involved? Sign up here!
Race for Open Space After-Party
Thursday, May 6
5:00 – 6:00pm (PT)
Did you run, hike, or walk for the lands you love between April 4-25? We’ll be celebrating you and revealing the results at our virtual after-party. There will be prize drawings too! RSVP here.
And don’t forget to submit your mileage by 11:59PM PDT on Saturday, May 1. Every mile counts!