Parks & Recreation

Volunteer Service Awards

Volunteer of the Quarter

July-September 2010
Phyllis Clark

Phyllis Clark is a wonderful volunteer who is up for anything from coastal clean ups to special events.  Phyllis is always a pleasure to be around and is very dependable.  As wonderful as Phyllis is on a regular basis, she definitely went above and beyond in July!  I often share volunteer opportunities with our partner organizations.  In July, Keep Pinellas Beautiful asked for volunteers to assist in the cleanup of a hoarding family who was about to have their home condemned.  Phyllis not only volunteered herself, but she took a day off of work and dragged her poor visiting brother along with her.  The event was such a horrible mess and traumatic experience with cat urine, roaches, spiders and every imaginable form of dirt and creature that I was shocked to have her ever speak to me again!  Phyllis did a wonderful job with an amazing attitude and I truly applaud her desire to give back and her wonderful spirit of volunteerism!

October-December 2010
Susan Marquez

Susan Marquez can often be seen volunteering with her wonderful daughter Erica Flores.  Erica is a senior at Clearwater High School and is in every club and activity imaginable.  While Erica volunteers for school credit. Susan volunteers for love of Erica.  Like many moms out there, Susan is often seen volunteering with Erica to help her receive credit, then she moves on for an additional shift to volunteer to help the Drama Club or CAICC group.  Susan did just that in an all day stint for the Hispanic Heritage Festival and then came back for more during two of our Halloween events.  The ladies also show up to various cleanup projects and just about anything else we offer.  They are a wonderful team and a super set of our volunteer family, but while Erica gets school credit, I wanted Susan to get credit of her own.  Great job mom! Your daughter and your City family appreciate you!

Service Group of the Quarter

July-September 2010
SPC Honors College

On September 11, 2010, we celebrated National Day of Service with an invasive plant removal at Moccasin Lake Nature Park.  Peggy Neal brought out 20 people from the SPC Honors College to assist and celebrate with us.  The group was a huge help and assisted in the removal of a dumpster full of invasive plants.  They worked incredibly hard in the heat doing physically challenging work.  We would welcome this group back any time and appreciate all they gave us during this important day of remembrance and service.  We love our SPC students!

October-December 2010
HCC Science Club

On October 2, 2010, we participated in the Florida Coastal Cleanup by removing trash and debris from Cooper’s Point.  This natural preserve is closed to the public, but collects various items from marine debris and boaters accessing the peninsula by water.  Hillsborough Community College Science Club crossed the bay and assisted us with 11 people for the cleanup.  We removed a dumpster of debris and really helped to keep this important habitat safe for its inhabitants.  The group did a super job and we truly appreciate their time and travel to help their Pinellas neighbors!

2010 Most Dependable Volunteer

Carol Taylor
Although a fairly new member of our volunteer family, Carol has made her mark as the Hospitality Queen of Events.  Anyone who has worked at Coachman Park would recognize Carol as the friendly face who serves you lunch and/or dinner at the top of Library Hill.  Carol not only works hard and gives her all, she has a good heart.  Carol likes everyone, is polite to everyone and will even be caught hugging other volunteers from time to time.  She is a joy to work with and a true gem.

Carol has only joined us in the last few years, but her volunteer resume stretches far into the past.  From getting involved in her child’s activities and volunteering with her employer to completing multiple projects for Hands on Tampa Bay.  Carol can often be found making peanut butter sandwiches at the soup kitchen before putting in an 8 hour day at Coachman Park. We are truly blessed to have this angel on our team and we hope she understands how much we appreciate her.

2010 Volunteer of the Year

Mark Quering
Through the years Mark Quering has played an instrumental part in making several City of Clearwater special events a success. Mark’s enthusiasm, work ethic and positive attitude are an important factor in the successful implementation of events like  Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival, and the Hispanic Heritage Festival. Mark has been known to take entire weeks off of work to be a part of these events and is a dependable and responsive volunteer.  He is a team player, leader and eager to help out with whatever it takes to get the job done.  He has taken several leadership positions,  coordinated several merchandise areas, assisted with set-up & breakdown, and has been one of our invaluable “go to” volunteers that can always be counted on to make himself available to other staff members.

2010 Service Group of the Year

SPC Applied Ethics Institute
SPC Applied Ethics Institute is one of our oldest and most reliable adopt a park partners.  They have been caring for Coachman Ridge Park and any other location we request them to for the last four years. They often bring 30-50 students out for each project and have tackled large scale invasive and debris removal projects for the department. In addition to the two projects they designate each year for their adoption, the program also refers countless students to the department each semester for assigned hours. SPC Applied Ethics Institute has been a truly valuable partner to us and we appreciate their flow of volunteers and support of the community.  We also appreciate their advocacy for volunteerism and community assistance.

Volunteers in Action