Rob Alvey Rob Alvey, founder of the Garden City Bird Sanctuary has been selected as an inductee to the Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame for his long term community service work on the environment. Now in its 7th year, the Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame celebrates the humanitarian spirit by inducting volunteer founders of nonprofit organizations. Their vision, dedication and drive addressed a community need and began a legacy of service to improve the quality of life for Long Islanders. An award for Lifetime Achievement in Volunteerism is also presented to a unique individual who has made a significant impact on the lives of others through a lifetime commitment of active citizenship, community service, and philanthropy. The Lifetime Achievement Award in Volunteerism inductee is William Tyree, SCO Family of Services. The induction ceremony and reception, sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union and Roslyn Savings Foundation, will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2009, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the Carlyle on the Green, Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, New York. Rob and his wife Suzie are guests for the ceremony. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Long Island Volunteer Center at (516) 564-5482 or access www.livolunteerhalloffame.org

Rob Alvey was appointed to the Village of Garden City's Environmental Advisory Board in 1992, and began a life-long commitment towards volunteer community service and environmental education. The Village declined to assume responsibility for the proposed neighborhood Bird Sanctuary. Rob then spent 2 years of planning, and an independent, nonprofit program was started in 1995 with a small group of Middle School students to remove litter at a local 9-acre stormwater basin. This effort grew to become "Sump-thing" - a neighborhood bird sanctuary and community nature preserve created out of a formerly neglected and trash filled Nassau County sump. Rob received a 'Community Volunteer of the Year' award from the Garden City News, in 1996 . He was also a recipient of a 2006 Volunteer award from the Town of Hempstead.

The vision statement adopted by the Garden City Bird Sanctuary is simply "to establish a local greenspace for the demonstration of environmental stewardship through education and volunteer community services." Since 1998, over 8,000 people have been active in this effort to improve the environment and educate residents on the meaning of environmental stewardship in the community. Based on Rob's work, other communities have created nature preserves and recreational fields at sumps, creating a network throughout Nassau County. Rob has donated over 20,000 hours of his time not only working at the site, but coordinating projects, leading volunteer projects, conducting tours, overseeing Boy and Girl Scout programs, making presentations, writing and editing the quarterly newsletter, seeking and administering grant opportunities, and shepherding research.