San Anselmo: Volunteer of the Year Award, Paws to Read, Storm Drain Markers

Volunteer of the Year Award 

The Town Council is calling for nominations for the Town’s Volunteer of the Year Award, honoring those who make a difference in our town.  The award is sponsored by the Friends of the San Anselmo Volunteer Effort (SAVE).

Selection of the award winner will be based on the following criteria:

·         The significance of the volunteer’s accomplishments, whether past or present.

·         The quality, scale and duration of the benefits to the community resulting from the individual’s accomplishments;

·         The amount of time and energy devoted to the community beyond the scope of normal volunteer responsibilities;

·         The extent of previous recognition received by the individual (e.g. the extent to which the nominee is an “unsung” hero.

The winner will be chosen by a Selection Committee that will be composed of two Town Councilmembers, selected by the Mayor, two staff members and a Friend of SAVE.  The Committee will hold a meeting to discuss the qualifications of the award nominees and to select the award winner.  Nominees should be current and active volunteers for the Town of San Anselmo. 

At the Committee’s discretion, two outstanding volunteers may be selected to receive an award in the event of a “tie,” or the award may be given to a group representing a team accomplishment.

The Volunteer of the Year award winner will be honored on Sunday, September 7th, at a special Volunteer Recognition Event, designed to honor the Town’s many volunteers and their valuable contributions to our community. The deadline for submission is Thursday, August 7, 2014.

To nominate a special volunteer for this award, go to www.townofsananselmo.org, and go to the News Flash section entitled Volunteer of the Year Award.

Paws to Read, Paws to Give

You can make community giving a part of your Paws to Read 2014 summer reading experience!

The Marin Humane Society’s SHARE (Special Humane Animal Relationships) book program works closely with the San Anselmo Library to help children improve literacy skills while offering them an opportunity to have fun reading  . . . to dogs!  Now, it’s our turn to give back to the Marin Humane Society.

This summer the San Anselmo Library is partnering with the Marin Humane Society to host a pet food drive.  Funded entirely by donations and grants, the SHARE pet assistance program has been assisting Marin’s low-income senior pet guardians for more than twenty years.  Side-by-Side is the largest part of SHARE and assists 228 low-income seniors (and their more than 300 companion animals) and others in need with pet food deliveries, transportation to the veterinarian, dog walking, pet grooming, litter box maintenance and emergency boarding of pets in the event of a client’s hospitalization.

We will be collecting cans and small bags of cat and dog food, as well as gift cards, to purchase pet food and supplies.  Donations can be dropped off at the San Anselmo Library during open hours.

Storm Drain Markers

The steelhead trout and the quality of water in the San Anselmo Creek got some help from Scouting Troop 15 this month.

Thanks to Connor Jensen, almost 600 of San Anselmo’s storm drain inlets were marked with medallions that say ‘No Dumping – Flows to Creek’. Unlike San Francisco and many older cities in the U.S., San Anselmo’s storm drains are separate from the sanitary sewer, which means they need protection against pollution because anything that flows off the street ends up down the creek and in the San Francisco Bay.

Connor’s Eagle Scout project took a month and a half to complete.  He marshalled nineteen people to help with the project and it took close to 70 hours over five working days to do the actual gluing of the medallions.

Many, many thanks to Connor and his crew for completing this important project.  The medallions help us all remember that whatever flows into the street drains goes into the creek and ends up in the bay!

San Anselmo News, published weekly on Fridays, is available at the San Anselmo Town Hall, Library, and on the Public Notice Bulletin Board. It is also available on the Town’s website, www.townofsananselmo.org, and by email subscription.