Volunteer Spotlight: Alex Loop
Friends of Brightwood Park is fortunate to have a dedicated volunteer helping to maintain the park’s ecosystem and to teach our youth. Alex says it best, “I am optimistic about suburbia‘s ability to exist with native species, flora, and fauna.”
Thank you, Alex, for your time and talent!
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Meet Alex Loop- a multifaceted educator and volunteer. Friends of Brightwood Park is lucky to know such a dedicated teacher with an amazing background. Currently, Alex teaches art in Elizabeth where she brings her talent and skills to students ages K-6. She brought those art skills to the Friends of Brightwood Park Plein Aire Day last May where she instructed the students to create art from the native species living in Brightwood Park – turtles, birds, spiders, frogs, deer, flowers, and trees.
Alex’s teaching of art intersects with her knowledge and passion of our forests and ponds as she spent some years being an outdoor educator. She is passionate about keeping our ecosystem healthy and imparting her knowledge to the younger generations. Not many volunteers are willing to pull weeds! But after meeting with Friends of Brightwood Park’s invasive species team, Alex volunteered her time to continue improving Brightwood Park at our weekly Wednesday weed-pulling sessions. She also serves as Chair of the Scotch Plains Green Team, so healthy ecosystems are one of her top priorities. Friends of Brightwood Park is fortunate to have a dedicated volunteer helping to maintain the park’s ecosystem and to teach our youth. Alex says it best, “I am optimistic about suburbia‘s ability to exist with native species, flora, and fauna.” Thank you, Alex, for your time and talent! |
Volunteer Spotlight: Nicole Konarzewski
Nicole Konarzewski
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If you have seen pictures of our many fun events at Brightwood Park on Facebook or Instagram, that is thanks to Nicole Konarzewski, our social media extraordinaire volunteer.
Nicole lives in Westfield and has worked as a nanny for a lucky family for five years. She found Westfield’s hidden gem, Brightwood Park, quite fortuitously one afternoon. After dropping off her charges for an event, she simply Googled “a park nearby.” She was just a few hundred feet away, so she decided to explore. She immediately fell in love with the park and checked out the website for more information. Luckily for us, we were running an ad for a social media volunteer. Nicole answered the ad and it has been a wonderful union between the members of Friends of Brightwood Park and Nicole. She volunteers her time freely for our events and posts her pictures to give others an idea of the fun activities that are held at the park. Thank you, Nicole! We enjoy your pleasant personality as well as your willingness to volunteer your time to a park that we all are passionate about. See you at our next event! |
Volunteer Spotlight
A heartfelt THANK YOU to all our volunteers!
Volunteer Spotlight: Bianca Wright
Bianca Wright, Landscape Architect
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Friends of Brightwood Park is a grass roots volunteer organization on a mission to restore the park and to educate about the environmental benefits of biodiversity. The work we do would not be possible but for the generous contributions of time and talents by our many volunteers. In appreciation, we offer a spotlight on volunteers in the park. This edition: Bianca Wright.
Bianca Wright has volunteered her time and talents to restore Brightwood Park for the past 4 years. A landscape architect, she has shared her expertise and knowledge on a variety of issues in the park. She has guided FOBP on the repopulation of native plants in the park, planned and executed our pollinator gardens, researched erosion solutions, and worked with Rutgers extension on protection of saplings and other high value plants. She has tirelessly weeded, seeded, and watered. Significantly, she has led environmental tours and taught native plant gardening to promote a healthy environment both in and outside of the park's borders. With heartfelt thanks, we salute Bianca's dedication to Westfield's nature preserve and beyond. |
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Friends of Brightwood Park is a grass roots volunteer organization on a mission to restore the park and to educate about the environmental benefits of biodiversity. The work we do would not be possible but for the generous contributions of time and talents by our many volunteers. In appreciation, we offer a spotlight on volunteers in the park. This edition: Stella Alvo.
Stella has been volunteering with us for years working on our database - a formidable charge - as well as helping at many of our other events. We thank her for her generosity of spirit and positivity. It is truly a gift having such a brilliant and joyful person working with our group! Would you like to volunteer your talents, meet other passionate and fun people, and make this one little slice of nature healthier? Join us!! |
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Friends of Brightwood Park is a grass roots volunteer organization on a mission to restore the park and to educate about the environmental benefits of biodiversity. The work we do would not be possible but for the generous contributions of time and talents by our many volunteers. In appreciation, we offer a spotlight on volunteers in the park. This edition: Bianca Wright
Bianca Wright has volunteered her time and talents to restore Brightwood Park for the past 4 years. A landscape architect, she has shared her expertise and knowledge on a variety of issues in the park. She has guided FOBP on the repopulation of native plants in the park, planned and executed our pollinator gardens, researched erosion solutions, and worked with Rutgers extension on protection of saplings and other high value plants. She has tirelessly weeded, seeded, and watered. Significantly, she has led environmental tours and taught native plant gardening to promote a healthy environment both in and outside of the park's borders. With heartfelt thanks, we salute Bianca's dedication to Westfield's nature preserve and beyond. |
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Volunteers Needed!
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