From the Director’s Notebook: Your Contribution, Their Impact—Support Our Volunteers This Giving Tuesday
Photo courtesy of Rachael Balascak
by Ruffian Tittmann
This year has been an ode to the wildness of the Wissahickon: a balance between preserving the natural beauty and ruggedness of the Wissahickon Valley and the efforts required to keep the park ecologically healthy.
Being the caretaker of this natural oasis amidst an urban landscape provides unique challenges and a big responsibility to our city: improving the water quality for more than 300,000 Philadelphians.
We take great pride in working side-by-side with Philadelphians to make this a beautiful place for our city to recreate. This year, in honor of Giving Tuesday, we’re fundraising, in part to continue to grow and support our already 2,000+ strong volunteer corps. Donate here.
Without these volunteers, and support from friends like you, the Wissahickon would look very different.
It takes tens of thousands of hours each year to restore, improve, and conserve more than 50 miles of scenic trails, 23 miles of waterways, and 2,000 acres of wooded forests, meadows, and wetlands in the Wissahickon.
Cutting back invasives, planting native trees and shrubs, collecting litter, leading free guided hikes, repairing fence posts and benches, and building footbridges are all volunteer-supported work. FOW started 100 years ago as a volunteer organization, and these dedicated members of our community continue to be our foundation. We want to thank our volunteers today and every day for their fantastic work supporting our mission.
Our volunteers keep the Wissahickon wild.
A donation to Friends of the Wissahickon for Giving Tuesday allows us to supply gear, hands-on training, and the tools required to continue welcoming more park visitors and volunteers each year!
We know there are many wonderful organizations that you can support this Giving Tuesday, but we hope you’ll consider Friends of the Wissahickon when spreading holiday generosity.