AmeriCorps Appreciation Week

In honor of AmeriCorps Appreciation Week, we want to take a moment to highlight our Ampact Community Forestry AmeriCorps Member, Tano (they/them).

Tano started with Mississippi Park Connection in August 2024 as a part-time AmeriCorps member, but has been a force of nature in expanding our capacity! Tano came on to primarily help with habitat restoration events, but has done so much more. When they joined MPC, we were at the height of habitat restoration event season, with multiple events and tree plantings each week. Tano took the busyness in stride and quickly learned the ropes of habitat restoration events. Tano’s friendly and calm demeanor helped them move from shadowing to leading volunteers and enhancing their experience.

After learning the ropes, they jumped into co-leading tree plantings, conducting tree survival surveys, and co-hosting two winter tree ID events at Mni Owe Sni, or Coldwater Spring Park. They have not only been a huge help to Mississippi Park Connection, but also assisted the National Park Service in conducting native mussel surveys and youth field trips to the river.

When our volunteer events season slowed this winter, Tano realized a goal they had since they started their term: to create an event that brings together Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community members. Their idea formed into a full moon gathering to bring BIPOC community members to Crosby Farm Regional Park for a night of community building, enjoying the full moon, and moon journaling, right next to the Mississippi River. Tano did an awesome job figuring out logistics, planning meetings, and organizing and we are so excited to help them host this event.

They are just past the halfway mark of their term but have already added so much to our organization. From planting trees, to enhancing relationships with partners and volunteers’ experience, to developing organizational How-to’s, to educating the public, Tano has shown themselves as an extremely resourceful, knowledgeable, and caring AmeriCorps member. Thank you, Tano, for being a part of Mississippi Park Connection!