This month we would like to thank Christie Bianco for her time and dedication as a NeighborSpace volunteer! 

Christie has lived in the Dunmore community for 21 years and first connected with Levickas Woods through her children, who would play in the woods and catch crayfish in the stream. She considers the woods to be a local treasure and incredible resource for the community, providing opportunities for mindful relaxation and to engage with the natural world. 

To Christie, stewardship is about caring for and protecting a place so that the community can continue to enjoy it well into the future. Over the years, she has seen the woods become more accessible with the addition and maintenance of trails. She emphasized that the improvement and maintenance of a place doesn’t just happen. It takes hard work to make sure that the community can continue to enjoy the woods. Christie spoke on the importance of engaging youth in a variety of ways so that the value of the woods is not lost on them. This engagement is essential for building new generations of caring stewards who will inherit the park. 

This sentiment is echoed in the strategies and approaches that NeighborSpace employs as we strive to protect land for communities in perpetuity. Thank you Christie for your time, insights, and efforts at Levickas Woods!