Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Year, Leanne Gangler! If you’ve ever visited the American River Parkway Foundation office on a Wednesday afternoon, you’ve probably seen Leanne working alongside us as one of our beloved Office Volunteers. For the last three years and over the course of 263 hours, Leanne has become a staple in our office, helping us with everything from assembling first aid kits to merchandise inventory.

“I’m grateful that I can help the team at the Parkway Foundation,” Leanne shared. “The American River Parkway is beautiful and well taken care of. It’s a great way to connect with the community, and the people I’ve met while volunteering are great to work with.”

In addition to serving as an Office Volunteer, Leanne also helps wherever she can. In May, she volunteered with our Parkway CONNECT program at a weaving event in partnership with the nonprofit Refugee Enrichment and Development Association (REDA), as well as volunteered at the American River Burger Battle for the second year in a row.

“There are so many things you can do on the Parkway to help upkeep it for the community,” Leanne noted. “I just love how beautiful the Parkway is, how it follows the flow of the river. You can see so much wildlife in a short span of time, and it’s so tranquil and clean. It’s a good place to volunteer.”

There are many unique opportunities to volunteer on the American River Parkway. In addition to our big clean-up events like Spring Clean-Up and the Great American River Clean-Up, we also have monthly opportunities to help maintain trails, remove invasive plants, and assist in our native plant garden.

“The very first event I ever volunteered at was the Great American River Clean-Up. I had never done anything like that before, so it was inspiring to see how much garbage was removed from the Parkway. I think it was something like 25,000 pounds that year. I really enjoyed helping with that,” Leanne said. “I also volunteered at Summer Solstice for the first time last year, and it was interesting to meet all kinds of different people. I look forward to helping out again this year.”

Thank you, Leanne, for all that you do for the American River Parkway Foundation! If you see Leanne out on the Parkway or at one of the American River Parkway Foundation’s events, be sure to say hi (and maybe ask her about her love for an opossum named Lou)!