Almost every year at our annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration we recognize one or two standout volunteers within our organization. This year we had the honor of recognizing Don and Alona Steinke as our 2016 Volunteers of the Year. Read on for Conservation Organizer Ryan Rittenhouse's introductory remarks from the Feb. 1 volunteer celebration, giving insight into why the Steinkes deserved the award.

Ryan Rittenhouse: I am very happy to announce that our Volunteer of the Year award tonight is going to Don and Alona Steinke.

Don and Alona were two of the first volunteer activists I met when I first moved to the Pacific Northwest back in 2013. I was introduced to them by Samantha Lockhart, my predecessor at Friends, who had already mentioned them both to me numerous times, and said I needed to be in touch with them as often as possible.

Don’s very first email to me started with a very warm welcome and included the following:

• His planned schedule of testifying at the upcoming coal hearing at the Oregon Convention Center
• His role in speaking at the rally outside the Convention Center (at which he also ended up giving a television interview)
• An invitation for me to table with him at the Camas Farmers market the following week
• A suggested introductory “yarn” (as he put it) which included telling folks that I had migrated to Portland from Texas because Texas had gotten too hot due to global warming
• A four-point plan on how best to get situated on the coal export fight (which included reading a book he was currently still writing)
• An explanation of which phone line was best to reach him on at which times.

Needless to say, I knew from that first email that I’d found a very important connection. 

Activist Don Steinke speaks at rally in Vancouver, WA, kicking off the EFSEC adjudication hearing for the Tesoro oil by rail terminal, June 27, 2016. (photographer: Ryan Rittenhouse)

Activist Alona Steinke gives testimony in Vancouver, WA, against Tesoro's proposed oil-by-rail terminal, Nov. 29, 2016. (photographer: Ryan Rittenhouse)

Friends' Conservation Director and activist Don Steinke speak at Friends' Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, Feb. 10, 2016. (photographer: Nakisha Nathan)

Don Steinke being interviewed by KOIN-TV reporter at hearing on Millennium Bulk coal terminal, July 9, 2013. (photo: Friends' archive)

Friends' Conservation Organizer Ryan Rittenhouse congratulates Alona Steinke after she and her husband Don Steinke were honored as 2016 Volunteers of the Year. (photographer: Michael Horodyski)

Alona and Don Steinke are honored as Friends' 2016 Volunteers of the Year. Conservation Organizer Ryan Rittenhouse is at right (photographer: Michael Horodyski)

It wasn’t long after that I met Alona, and it has been my distinct pleasure and privilege to work with these two amazing and inspiring activists over the last three and a half years. I think everyone who knows them would agree that they are the most relentless and committed individuals in the entire Vancouver area when it comes to protecting and advocating for the environment and public health, and fighting climate change in the most direct and effective ways. They have been some of the most engaged and outspoken voices against the proposed Vancouver oil terminal, but have also participated in the many hearings and rallies for other oil terminals throughout the region, the many coal terminals (all of which have now been defeated), and many other fights such as the methanol plant proposed for Kalama, WA.

Just one more story about them before I have them come up here: Back in September of 2015, Don and Alona were recognized for their efforts and achievements by the Sierra Club at their National Annual Awards Ceremony. Other recipients of awards at this ceremony included the likes of Sen. Harry Reid, Alan Rusbridger (the recently retired editor of The Guardian newspaper in London), and many other amazing leaders and activists from around the country. But Don and Alona almost didn’t accept the award in person. You see, the ceremony was to take place in San Francisco, and they were concerned with the fossil fuel footprint of flying all the way down there just for an award dinner, so they almost didn’t go. But, after doing some research, they figured out that the carbon footprint of a train ride was much smaller. So that, combined with the encouragement from many of their friends and colleagues (including myself), resulted in their buying some Amtrak tickets. And they were able to attend the ceremony and receive the award in person after all.

Now, the impact on worldwide climate change from one plane ride is negligible, but it is that level of personal responsibility, understanding, and dedication that make Don and Alona so special. The example they set, both in their personal lives as well as in their volunteerism and activism, serves as a high bar not just for other volunteers and activists, but also for organizers like me, or anyone else.

I’m glad they had no such conundrum or difficulty in showing up to our little party tonight. And it is my privilege to be the one who gets to give them this award. Two people whom I not only greatly admire and am constantly inspired by, but who I also now consider dear and personal friends.

Please join me in congratulating Don and Alona Steinke, our Volunteers of the Year.