Honoring Our Environmental Stewards

Dale Swanson of Wisconsin Public Service presented the inaugural “Environmental Stewardship” Golden Heart Award to Paul Treadeau, representing the Recycling Volunteers of Habitat for Humanity. Photo courtesy of Jason Mann Photography.

At the recent Golden Heart Volunteer Celebration, the Volunteer Center introduced a new Golden Heart Award category to accompany the current volunteer categories honored each year. In the inaugural year of the “Environmental Stewardship Volunteer of the Year Award” sponsored by Wisconsin Public Service, the recycling volunteers of Door County Habitat for Humanity were honored.

“Wisconsin Public Service has a commitment to the environment and encourages the wise use of natural resources, so they were a perfect partner and sponsor of this new award category,” stated Pam Seiler, Executive Director of the Volunteer Center. The Recycling Volunteers of Habitat for Humanity have been credited with keeping an estimated 310,000 pounds of useable merchandise out of area landfills over the past four years. Also honored in this first-year category were Door County Land Trust’s Preserve Stewards Bill Utley and Steve Wilkie, who are active year-round stewards of the 332-acre Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve.

The Volunteer Center of Door County celebrated the 12th Annual Golden Heart Volunteer Celebration “Connecting People. Changing Lives.” on Thursday, April 24. A record setting 350 guests celebrated at the Stone Harbor Ballroom honoring the work of Door County volunteers and the agencies they serve.