Thurston County
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Thurston County Volunteers Recognized  

OLYMPIA – What do thousands of Thurston County residents have in common?  They all give some of their personal time as volunteers to help make Thurston County a better place to live.  A recent tally of just some of the unpaid efforts in support of county government alone, totaled more than

19-hundred volunteers providing tens of thousands of hours. 

With that donated work in mind, Thurston County Commissioners will proclaim April 18^th through the 24^th as “Volunteer Recognition Week”.  County Commission Chairman Diane Oberquell says it’s almost hard to imagine all the contributions made by volunteers in support of county government.  “Whether its someone putting in long hours with one of our many boards or commissions or working with emergency services, volunteers assist with nearly every aspect of county government.  We want to thank each and every person who gives up their own time to help make Thurston County a great place to live.”

A snapshot of some of the volunteer efforts shows how important they are-

Office or Department.                           Number of Volunteers.               Number of Hours.

Office of the Clerk                                   4                                                    897

Thurston County Fair                              450                                                10,780

Pacific Mountain Workforce                   11                                                  528

Sheriff’s Office                                       344                                                 6,494

Water and Waste Management               325                                                 3,600

Court Appointed Special Advocates       35                                                   2,940

WSU Thurston County Extension          475                                                 20,000+

Emergency Management                        263                                                 5,000+  

With numbers from just those eight arms of Thurston County government, there are a total of 1,907 volunteers performing more than 50,000 hours of work each year.  In other words, they provide more than the equivalent of 26 full time employees.  And this does not take into account the many other volunteer hours provided to other branches of county government.

Thurston County Commissioners will proclaim “Volunteer Recognition Week” during their regular weekly meeting beginning at 9 AM on Monday, April 19^th, recognizing all of those who give their own time to the betterment of the community.

Those seeking volunteer opportunities with Thurston County can visit the county web site at http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/index.htm and look for Volunteer Opportunities under the “A to Z Site Index List”.