The Florida Park Service would not be the three-time Gold Medal organization that it is today without the vital support of our volunteers. Last year more than 29,000 volunteers contributed over 1.2 million hours of service. Florida's state parks are fortunate to have so many passionate and dedicated volunteers.

The Volunteer Awards celebrate exceptional individuals, teams and CSOs which choose to serve the Florida Park Service with their time and talent. The winners are selected in nine categories by the Friend of Florida State Parks Recognition Committee, from nominations made by the parks.

Lois Rose – Winner of Adult Female Volunteer of 2016 

Silver Springs State Park in Ocala has been fortunate to receive nearly 700 hours of expert software engineering skills and expertise from volunteer, Lois Rose, to digitize and preserve the park's cultural and historical resources. The digitization of these resources provides copies to be used for interpretive materials.

Sally Lieb, Park Manager says, "One of many challenges faced with the acquisition of the Springs area was and continues to be the accession and handling of historic documents, photographs, memorabilia, films, records and so on.  Thanks to the digitizing work of Lois and her team these multitudes of items are readily available for use by all park service personnel and others while the originals are still being preserved in proper storage.”

Thank you for your service, Lois!

Rodger Chambers – Winner of Adult Male Volunteer of 2016

For eight years Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area & North Peninsula State Park has been the lucky recipient of Rodger’s time, skill and expertise.  In 2016 Rodger contributed more than 850 hours as a volunteer adding up to 10,255 lifetime hours given to the Florida Park Service.

Space doesn’t allow for a full list of Rodger’s accomplishments but here are a few - He has built five substantial interpretive kiosks for the park’s trails and butterfly garden. He’s made many improvements to the riverside camping area including reworking the water faucets at tent sites so they are easier to use, installing site designation posts, installing all new signage, installing t-posts for campers to hang items and more.  He works alongside the park staff as a member of the team and brings an invaluable skill set to the park that saves thousands of dollars annually.  

Thank you for your service, Rodger!