Amelia Oliver

Family: Husband and two daughters.

Residence: Wheatland.

Occupation: Certified arborist and I do landscape design.

How long have you lived in the Yuba-Sutter area? 17 years.

Hobbies, interests: I like working with children and trees.

For what groups do you volunteer? About 80 percent of my time is volunteering in two categories — green and community.

In the green category, I volunteer my technical and professional experience as an arborist for the community of Wheatland, the school district and friends. A recent major project was coordinating the planting and care of about 200 trees in the city. I'm proud of those 200 trees. We had lots of volunteers.

I am president of the California ReLeaf board of directors, a nonprofit group that represents more than 75 community groups throughout the state. It offers resources to grass-roots groups that strive to improve their communities and get people outdoors.

And I like to help out at Farmer Jim's organic farm. My favorite project was planting trees at a preschool when my oldest was 3 years old. Eight years later, the trees are gorgeous and the shade is splendid. The kids believed that the trees would grow if they cared for the trees.

In the community category, I have been a Girl Scouts leader for six years, am on the South Yuba Recreation board and have been treasurer at Grace Church for about 10 years.

You can often find me on the school campus, helping where I can.

Beforehand, I served in the Peace Corps in Central African Republic.

Volunteering is part of our whole family. My parents volunteered and my fifth-grader likes to volunteer.

How do you fit volunteering into your schedule? Right now, volunteering is my schedule. I an involved in some sort of volunteering every day. When I go back to work, for money, I'll have to cut back.

Words of advice: Even when I work with children who aren't my kids, I'm there for them. I want to make experiences they'll always remember.

It's easy to go get a shovel and plant a tree, but there's so much more to a project. You have to see a project to the very end to be successful. I guess that's my niche in all the volunteer work — doing the part no one else sees as important.

Quote: By volunteering, "You see how you make little impacts and help out."

To submit the name of a volunteer to be featured, contact Community Editor Leticia Gutierrez at 749-6552.