Cindy McGrew Named
Volunteer of the Year
by The Nature Conservancy in Illinois
Dedicated Steward Helps Restore Wetland Bluebirds
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — November 25, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy announced today that Cindy McGrew of Havana, Illinois is the first recipient of the conservation organization’s annual Volunteer of the Year award. Cindy is a long-time volunteer who has most notably fostered a growing bluebird population at the Emiquon Preserve. An award presentation will be held in Chicago on December 2, 2008*.
Volunteers are engaged with the Conservancy across Illinois, contributing thousands of hours of their time each year from seed harvesting to office duties. “Volunteers are a tremendous asset to conservation,” said Leslee Spraggins, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Illinois. “In particular, Cindy’s dedication to protecting Eastern bluebird chicks at Emiquon goes above and beyond typical volunteer duties. It demonstrates that for her, volunteering is a labor of love.”
Cindy was among the first volunteers at Emiquon, which at 7,100 acres is the largest wetland restoration of its kind in the Midwest. Initially the vibrant third grade teacher was a volunteer at Spunky Bottoms, an established Conservancy wetland restoration project nearby. When she learned that a massive corn field would be returned to a wetland system in Lewiston, she decided to focus her contributions there. “Emiquon is a marvelous place to be,” she said. “Volunteering there allows me to see what it is like to be part of something bigger than myself.” Emiquon is quickly becoming a model restoration project that may be replicated around the world.
Cindy began her contribution by artfully interpreting the restoration as a founding member of the Emiquon Corps of Discovery through writing and sketching. Over the years, she has pitched in wherever her help was needed, even adopting a prairie plot where she plants native seed and removes invasive plants seasonally. When a Conservancy land manager discussed a need to foster the Eastern bluebird population at Emiquon, Cindy immediately volunteered for the challenge. “It is just such a privilege to be part of this,” said McGrew, who hopes that, despite changes in land alongside the Illinois River over the years, “there are some little things we can do to help bring it back.” In the three years since she installed and began monitoring bluebird nesting boxes, 250 fledglings have arrived at the wetland. Although Cindy has found bluebirds to be meticulous housekeepers with beautiful nests of dried grasses, they require an established tree cavity or bird house in which to build their home. As natural areas are developed for other uses, fewer nesting areas have been available to bluebirds, threatening their population.
As a teacher in Havana at New Central Elementary School, Cindy delights in sharing her respect for the outdoors with her students. On field trips to Emiquon she has observed that “children are natural land stewards, and they need the outdoors.” Although Cindy says she will never leave Emiquon, she hopes that her students will one day follow in her footsteps there.
Cindy is one of thousands of members of the Volunteer Stewardship Network, an organization of natural areas volunteers across the state. This year, the group celebrates its 25th anniversary. New volunteers are welcome at its wide range of sites including many Conservancy managed properties. Find out how to volunteer with the VSN.
*Media may attend the presentation if arranged in advance, however it is not open to the general public.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States, including more than 80,000 acres in Illinois, and have helped preserve more than 120 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.
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