At the close of 2010, the R2R board voted unanimously to give this special award to Miss Jessie Kneisler for her outstanding work in recruiting volunteers for our tree planting project on the Platanus Trail. This is a long term project, located on Sunset Boulevard near the Glen Archer Elementary School, and involves a partnership between R2R, the City of Sherwood, Clean Water Services, and the Sherwood High School.  The project entails planting approximately 1500 trees each year for 5 years or more, planting 16 species of trees and bushes each time we plant. This means planting 2-3 times in the spring to get 750 plants in the ground, and 2-3 times in the fall, for another 750 plants. The goal is to restore water quality, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat to Cedar Creek, which flows into the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.

Jessie teaches Biology at the Sherwood High School and has been offering extra credit to her students who volunteer to plant trees with Raindrops to Refuge. Her crusade has yielded hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers who learn how to properly plant a tree, the benefits of trees, the difference between wetland, transition zone, and upland plants, how to take care of tools, the role of nonprofit organizations, and the value of giving back to their community in this particular manner.  Given that we plant in the early spring and late fall, this often takes place on cool, windy, rainy, muddy days. Yet the students are undaunted. Clearly, there is much value in the extra credit that students gain. Jessie has also recruited other teachers, the school principle, Michele DeBoard, and friends. Her enthusiasm for this outdoor work is infectious and we thoroughly enjoy working with her.

Jessie was surprised to receive this award at our 3rd Annual Spaghetti Dinner on Friday, Feb. 25th, but she shouldn't be. Her dedication to the natural environment of Sherwood and to the value of students giving back to the community is considerably above average. We give her an A+.  Congratulations Jessie!

In 2009 we honored two people for their outstanding volunteer contributions to R2R: Margot Neamtzu for her tremendous efforts in coordinating our record breaking tree planting event, and Jack Stockton for his steadfast attention to details concerning our ever growing and evolving website. Much thanks to both people. We don't just think they're awesome, we know it!