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Open Space Foundation Awards and Grants

Awards

Ralph Kraetsch was invited to speak on the Oak Habitat Restoration Project at the Fifth Symposium on Oak Woodlands: Oaks in California's Changing Landscape In October of 2001. You can read his summary of ten years experience with the project in these Adobe PDF files:

   With pictures (1.5 megabytes)

   Without pictures (107,000 bytes)

Ralph Kraetsch was awarded the "Gold Leaf" award by the International Society of Arborists in Maui, Hawaii on May 1, 2000.

For his work on projects of the Open Space Foundation, Bill Hunt was nominated for a Threads of Hope award given by Diablo Magazine and was one of the finalists honored at a dinner at the Blackhawk Museum.

The Foundation received a special award for the Oak Habitat Restoration Project and for the web site from the Walnut Creek Action for Beauty Council in November of 003.

On April 5, 2006 the California Park and Recreation Society (CPRS), District III, recognized the Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation as an Outstanding Non-Profit Organization Partner for its work in our open space and in Heather Farm Park. CPRS is a professional society for city and other public agency workers in the parks and recreation field. District III includes Contra Costa and Alameda cities. The Foundation was one of six organizations recognized and the only Walnut Creek based organization recognized.  Foundation President, Lesley Hunt, and board members Bob Brittain, Bill Hunt and Bob Wisecarver were present to receive the award.

At the same meeting, Foundation board member Bill Hunt was also recognized as an Outstanding Volunteer in a separate award for his work in restoring the Heather Farm Park Nature Area.

Grants

The Foundation relies on volunteer labor and member contributions to accomplish its goals but it also applies for grants to cover costs of materials for its projects.

The Oak Habitat Restoration Project has received several grants from Chevron.  In  2004 the project received a grant from the Rose Foundation.

In 2003 the Heather Farm Nature Areas Restoration Project received a grant from the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee and a Civic Pride Grant from the City of Walnut Creek. In 2005, the project received a second grant from the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee.

On July 1, 2003, the Foundation received grant funding  from the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority to cover the purchase of ten recycled-content benches to be installed by the City of Walnut Creek along various trails in the Shell Ridge Open Space.