At each FWP Annual Meeting, we present the Best Friend of Woodland Park Award, to someone in our community who generously dedicates their time and labor for the Woodland Park. The Best Friend of Woodland Park Award, is given by the board to an individual or group to show our appreciation for contributions that greatly advance our mission:
“. . .Preserving the park's natural habitat along with its unique historical significance to the City of Houston, and to providing for the enjoyment and education of all who visit.”
Jacob Prochaska is a lifelong resident of Woodland Heights and was “volun-told” to help out with park cleanups when he was in middle school. He continued to attend our cleanups and was asked to lead groups of younger students who hadn’t visited the park. He now helped with all of the jobs we have at the cleanups including set up, check in and break down, which is a huge help to our volunteers. He also volunteers annually at our Happy Trails and Hot Dogs event, again doing anything we ask of him. He never says no and executes it all with a smile and a tremendous work ethic.
Andrea Garza is a Senior at Duchesne and reached out to FWP in the Summer of 2023 as she started an Environmental Club at her school. She arrived with a plan and a maturity level not seen in many adults and we took advantage of the manpower and willingness she brought to us. She formed a coalition with the president of other environmental clubs at local schools and organized cleanups and trail maintenance projects about every other month since then, and also helped out with any other events we needed assistance with. She has helped us to reach a whole new group of volunteers by coordinating with Strake, St. Pius, St. Agnes, Regis, Hogg and other area schools. She creates social media content to advertise these events and many of the students who have come, continue to return to help clean the bayou, and bring their friends.
Dedication under adverse conditions is when you see true character!
Earlier this fall, they both organized and executed a cleanup at the park with about 50 attendees. This group of students and parents removed approximately 1600 pound of trash in 3 hours, including 18 tires and 4 shopping carts. The power of the next generation is evident in their leadership and we are so grateful for the legacy they will leave when they graduate next Spring.
In 2022, our first year of awarding this, we chose Mary Goldsby who is still leading monthly birding hikes to share the beauty of our park with other birdwatchers and anyone else interested in joining in. Last year we celebrated the work of Christina DeHaven, a local videographer who has helped us show the beauty of the park in videos which have been viewed thousands of times. She recently filmed more footage of the devastation of the Bayou since Beryl to show how impacted the landscape was. We shared this footage at our Annual Meeting and she also joined Lauren Lindsay in presenting the 2024 awards.
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