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Florida Environmentalist Wins TogetherGreen's Community Passport Volunteerism Contest!
11/4/2009
Ellenton Resident Donates Over Three Hundred Hours to Conservation Projects and
Receives Environmentally-Friendly Prizes
Yvette Little, a small business owner who lives in Ellenton, Florida, does not think small when it comes to the environment.
She spends her working days talking with people and businesses about ways to conserve resources, time and money and reduce their impact on the earth. And in her spare time, she can often be found volunteering hundreds of hours with local environmental groups throughout Manatee County.
Between Earth Day (April 22, 2009) and July 22, 2009, Little donated 323 volunteer hours to helping The Talkin’ Monkey project, The Crowley Museum and Nature Center, The Florida Bat Conservancy, OneLightBulb.org and The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program advance their conservation missions.
For her contribution, Little took first prize in the TogetherGreen Community Passport contest and received an LL Bean Bike and gift certificate for emission-free traveling fun.
“I really like bringing the community together and giving back in ways that promote environmental welfare and conservation,” Little said. “I hope that others see that any step you take makes a difference, even if it’s something small.”
“Yvette Little has been volunteering with our organization for over a year and in that time great change has been effected,” said Deborah D. Misotti, director of The Talkin’ Monkeys Project. “Yvette is one of our most valued volunteers. She has networked for our organization, obtained necessary funding for various projects for the apes and enabled us to reach a broader audience of environmentally conscious people.”
“Yvette is an advocate for the program and the community,” said Sara Peatrowsky, public outreach coordinator for the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. “She is always willing to volunteer her time and is a genuine, happy person. She cares about the environment that she lives in and does everything she can to help protect it.”
To win the Community Passport contest, individuals nationwide tracked their community volunteer hours at www.togethergreen.org in a variety of conservation categories, called Pursuits. After that, it just came down to the most hours logged. Every hour was verified by the organizations.
“What Yvette has shown is how her individual actions add up to make a real impact in her Florida community,” said Audubon President John Flicker. “Hopefully her story inspires others to give it a try, to do more, and to expand their efforts to include new and different volunteer activities. The real winner in this contest is the environment and all life that depends on it.”
Other winners of this year’s Community Passport contest include Orlando, Florida’s Frank Gould; and Kissimmee, Florida’s Jenny Welch. In all, Florida residents submitted 414 hours of volunteer time to the contest.
“Volunteerism and service was something always ingrained in me as a child,” Little said. “Through my experiences as a volunteer, I truly believe that volunteerism is the way we’re going to save our world”.
The Community Passport contest is part of the five-year TogetherGreen alliance between Audubon and Toyota, created to help individuals make a positive impact in their homes, their communities, and the world.
Future TogetherGreen Community Passport contests will offer further rewards in the years to come.
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About TogetherGreen
Audubon and Toyota launched the five-year TogetherGreen initiative in 2008 to build the promise of a greener, healthier future through innovation, leadership and volunteerism. In the first year, more than 9,000 volunteers contributed nearly 45,000 hours to protect land, water, and energy resources nationwide. For more information, visit www.togethergreen.org.
About Audubon
Now in its second century, Audubon connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education, and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world. Visit Audubon online at www.audubon.org.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants. Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. Since 1991, Toyota has contributed more than $464 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S. For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit www.toyota.com/community.
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