The City of Kenmore has formed a number of volunteer teams that bring together dedicated people with similar interests and provides these volunteers training to prepare them for volunteer leadership positions within Kenmore.
The city is hosting an event Sept. 20 called the Beautify Kenmore Event from 9 a.m. to noon at Log Boom Park and Rhododendron Park. Volunteers will be pruning, removing invasive plants, picking up trash, weeding, and mulching. Join the fun, get a little dirty, and help clean up local parks alongside other Kenmore community members.
Kenmore Events Team (KET) is a dedicated team of volunteers who help the city offer special events throughout the year. These events include; Fourth of July Fireworks Show, Summer Concert Series, Kenmore Play Day, and the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Festival. The volunteers take leadership roles in vendor coordination, hospitality coordination, entertainment coordination, event information management, sponsorship and marketing coordination, parking coordination, and event logistics. Serving Kenmore on the KET team is: Lonnie Hunt, Mike White, Susan White, Cindy Rutstein, Justin Shelton, Teresa Schuler, and Lindsey Hunt.
Adopt a Park and Street Leaders work with the city to ensure that the parks and streets in Kenmore stay clean. These programs invite local businesses, neighborhood associations, civic groups and other non-profits to adopt a specific street or park and agree to organize at least two clean up events for the designated street or park per year. The city provides training and equipment for these projects. Groups adopting a street or park will be recognized for their service on signage at the project site. Thank you to our current volunteer groups: Northshore Rotary; Inglemoor High School Football Boosters; Cub Scout Pack 564; WhatsSup Stand-Up, Paddle & Kayak; Dunn Family; Landing Church Seattle; Friends of Inglewood Wetlands; Healey Jorgensen Architects; Colwell Family; and Corpore Sano Physical Therapy.
Native Plant Stewards provide leadership and knowledge to support volunteers on restoration and planting projects within the city. The volunteers receive 10 weeks of training on native plants and restoration project management. Stewards Carl Golden, Lisa Wood, Rick Hanson, Nancy Bowen-Pope, and Sarah Park will be serving Kenmore over the next year and will be focused primarily on a restoration project in Log Boom Park.
Park Stewards direct park cleanup events each month and will do weekly patrols of the parks. Park Stewards provide an essential role in helping the City keep Kenmore parks beautiful, healthy, and safe. Park Stewards serving this year are Richard Wayman, Charles Garneski, Diane Bates, and Debra Srebnick.
Emergency Volunteer Teams assist the city in addressing the needs of citizens following a disaster. They are trained to operate the Volunteer Reception Center that intakes and assigns other volunteers. This team will work closely with the City’s Emergency Management Division team to connect essential volunteer services with people and service agencies in need of assistance following an emergency. This team has received some training, but is still accepting new members.
There are many other volunteers that assist the city by helping with one day cleanup events, special events support, providing free business seminar educational presentations, or helping the city with a special project.
For more information, contact Volunteer and Events Coordinator, Cindy Shelton, at 425-398-8900 or cshelton@kenmorewa.gov.
