National Earth Team Volunteer Award Winner “Walks the Talk”

Not only does Huron County, Ohio District Conservationist Mike Patterson use volunteers, but the NRCS Employee 2005 National Earth Team Volunteer Award winner is a volunteer himself.  He volunteers as a clown, entertaining children from the Cleveland inner-city area, the Bay Area Friends of Abused Children, Services for the Aging, the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) Fall Fun Fest, and at Saint Vincent Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo where twice monthly he helps bring laughter to serious, critical, and terminally ill children.

As an NRCS employee in Ohio, Mike has supervised over 45 Earth Team Volunteers who collectively have donated over 2,500 hours of their time for NRCS. The volunteers he recruits work with developmentally disadvantaged individuals at Christie Lane Industries/Schools, the Hispanic community, and with the Senior Enrichment Ambassadors. A number of these volunteers are developmentally disadvantaged themselves.

Mike began his career in conservation in Dane County, Wisconsin, as a volunteer. He volunteered at the Dane County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Wisconsin NRCS State Office, donating over 450 hours of his time while there.
Your contact is Christina Coulon, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 614-255-2471.