Volunteer Spotlight
Volunteer Dream Team
Volunteer Team of 3+ Award for Administration
Diana Gregory, Sue Hamburger, and Sue (Sharon) Munson have been the three leading members of the park's citizens support organization (CSO) when it comes to administrative tasks and keeping the nonprofit organization on track. Despite the challenges of social distancing and park operational changes, these three have continued to push forward and have not slowed down.
Diana Gregory began volunteering in May 2019 and has devoted more than 540 hours of volunteer work between managing the CSO as president and assisting with the native plant shade house among other day-to-day operational tasks.
Sue Hamburger joined the team in 2016. She is a jack-of-all-trades and has assisted with a variety of positions from gift shop manager, website coordinator and current treasurer for the CSO. Sue has contributed more than 1,400 hours.
Sue Munson’s first introduction to Savannas Preserve park was in 2018 through the friends group when she attended one of the monthly board meetings. Within a few weeks, she signed up to be a volunteer, became a member of the group and and joined the board of directors. Since then, Sue has taken leadership over the native plant garden and shade house volunteer crew while completing more than 580 hours of volunteer work.
Diana, Sue M. and Sue H. have worked relentlessly this past year to provide the friends group with direction, motivation and structure. Last year, Diana proposed several changes to the board to increase communication among the board of directors, members and park staff.
Together, they developed a plan to safely and efficiently reinstitute gift shop sales and native plant sales while following safety guidelines and overcoming the added challenge of the closure of the education center for renovations. The team is actively working with staff to develop plans for socially distanced special events and fundraisers for the future, including re-envisioned drum circles and a Pioneer Day celebration.
2020 Florida State Parks Volunteer Recognition Award Winner