Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

To:	David Corliss City Manager
From:	Megan Gilliland
cc:	Diane Stoddard Cynthia Wagner Jonathan Douglass
Date:	April 19, 2010
Re:	Safe Winter Walkways Program Review

Over the course of last winter, numerous volunteers from the Lawrence community came together to help fellow citizens who needed assistance in shoveling their sidewalks as part of the Safe Winter Walkways program.  Safe Winter Walkways is a partnership with Douglas County Senior Services.  DCSS staff Ashley Brinkman and Matthew Lieste were instrumental in organizing the program this year.

Last winter’s program saw a record number of volunteers and a record number of citizens requesting assistance.  In fact, numbers for both participants and volunteers doubled this past year. This jump in participation can largely be attributed to the high levels of snow and a desire for compliance with the city’s sidewalk snow shoveling ordinance.  Fifty-two volunteers were paired with local residents as part of this process.  Initially, the program was slow in collecting both participants and volunteers but after the snow storm over the Christmas holiday, there was a demand for volunteers.  The local newspaper, city outreach methods and DCSS worked together to solicit volunteers and this teamwork did produce a number of additional volunteers.

For the 2010-2011 winter season, staff and DCSS are recommending some additional publicity and partnership options to increase volunteer support prior to the first snow fall of the year.

• Coordinate with Roger Hill Volunteer Center early for sign up
• Send letter/email to all previous volunteers in the fall soliciting support for program
• Start promotion of program in early October
• Work with local youth groups and churches for additional participation
• Work with local media to produce public service announcements and media attention
• Work with Lawrence Area Partners on Aging for greater participation
• Continue to use city outreach (news releases, city newsletter, social media, online registration functions, etc.) to reach volunteers and program participants.

The attached letter from the Mayor will be sent to all volunteers thanking them for their support of the program and encourage their continued support for the following year. 

The following citizens served as volunteers for the 2009-2010 Safe Winter Walkways program. 

Denise Bradshaw

John Catlin

Sam Court

Tyler Gill

Andrew Hartsock

Maggie and Kory Norman

Sean Rudisell

Joe Sharp

Chuck Wehner

Frank Williams

Emilie Swartz

Matthew Lieste

Ashley Brinkman

Diane Spicer

Janet Horner

Marcia Fisher

Aaron Ketchell

Joe Douglas

Meryl Carver

Kelly Jones

Jon Tunge

Ryan Kruse

Paul Fast

Paige Blair

Richard Moorhead

Aaron Cornett

Kelly Evans

Aron Cromwell

Gayla Fields

Thomas Nepstad

Brett Fatool

Evar Ukpokodu

Jason Conser

Daniel Clark

Tom Worker-Braddock

Richard Koester

Daniel Dostert

Anthea Scouffas

Tom Harper

Benito Neaves

George Diepenbrock

Virgil Holding

Heather Williams

Kelby Marsh

Kyle Hoake

Dusty Wilson

Ryan Marienau

Joe Hoelscher

Katherine Ozorkiewicz

Jason and Cynthia Novinger

Stephanie Ammann

Matt Schwartz

Jonathan Douglass

City staff will again begin promoting the 2010-2011 Safe Winter Walkways program in early October 2010.