February 14, 2019  |   

See a clip of John Lauretig, FOJT Executive Director, announcing the grants given to some NPS contract employees (Great Basin Institute). 

This news just broke on The Desert Sun… images and story from the ‘Thank You’ event on Feb. 12, and info on the new Impact Relief Grant launched by FOJT. 

see full article here 

(excerpted from Desert Sun; volunteer efforts to deal with trash and bathrooms turned into financial grants program)

John Lauretig, executive director of Friends of Joshua Tree, and local climbing guide Seth Zaharias helped coordinate groups of up to 80 volunteers to make daily trips into the park to clean bathrooms, pick up trash, and remind park visitors to pack out what they packed in. 

 

At the height of the federal government shutdown, Friends of Joshua Tree received a surge of donations to support the volunteer maintenance trips. And with the shutdown at least temporarily over, Lauretig found he had more donated money than the organization needed.

When the federal government came to a temporary compromise to reopen the government until Feb. 15, and with an agreement in principle for a permanent resolution in the works, President Trump announced that furloughed federal employees would receive back pay for the time they were forced out of work.

But there is a segment of workers that Lauretig said got shortchanged. 

The Great Basin Institute, an environmental nonprofit, has 19 research associates and others working among Joshua Tree’s patchwork of staff. The workers were not granted back pay, like federal employees.

Lauretig and FOJT decided to give back to the members of the park community who didn’t get paid after Trump announced the federal government would reopen for three weeks.

Jane Rodgers, Chief of Science and Resource Stewardship, said that on average the Great Basin Institute workers missed 140 hours of work.