City of Columbia

Volunteer of the Month for January 2019-Steve Matthews

Steve Matthews has been volunteering with the City of Columbia Volunteer Programs since 2002. Steve has been heavily involved with the Treekeepers and CARP programs; dedicating nearly 1,000 hours over the last 16 years to removing overgrown honeysuckle and falling trees in and around Columbia’s many parks and trails.

Steve’s love of trees is deeply rooted in the way in which he was raised. “I was raised on a large farm along the Missouri River, and we were taught that a “weed” is a plant you don’t want to grow on your land.” When “greedy growth” such as bush honeysuckle threatens to kill native trees and plants, Steve takes pride in rescuing them from extinction. Just this year Steve cut “very overgrown” honeysuckle around Grindstone Park. Steve states the patrons of the park “were super appreciative of my efforts to open up the jungle, which is something that really keeps me going.”

When Steve isn’t cutting honeysuckle you can often find him reading books from the local library. “I was born in the bookmobile of rural Ray county, I sometimes think!” Steve joked. Steve enjoys attending Osher adult education classes and has volunteered with other local programs such as PET, Love Inc., and In2Action.

We appreciate Steve’s selfless giving of his time and talents to help keep Columbia beautiful!