Thurston Climate Action Team presents our first Volunteer Spotlight. We know and believe that our volunteers are the driving force behind our team. We are very lucky to have such amazing volunteers who not only give their time but also their expertise to TCAT daily. Our Community Engagement and Equity Coordinator Marisa sat down with one such amazing volunteer Cleveland “Cleve” Pinnix. 

Cleve has been a long-time volunteer with TCAT. He started in 2019 after attending a meeting that he was invited to at Panorama. Cleve volunteers and is a part of our Electric Vehicle action group. This group helps to educate people about the effects of emissions on climate change as well as education to those who are interested in Electric Vehicles. They also push for change in our government to switch to all electric vehicles including public transportation and fleet vehicles used by local jurisdictions. 

Cleve lives in Panorama and is retired. He loves anything outdoors and is part of a retired men’s hiking group that he has been meeting with every Tuesday for the past 15 years. He recently completed the Pacific Crest Trail. Cleve is a longtime volunteer for the Capitol Land Trust and a docent for the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail. 

When asked what advice he has for those who want to volunteer, he said “Find a place where you feel you can make a difference, step up and do it. Think globally, act locally.” His interest in the TCMP (Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan) led him to TCAT and wanting to help mitigate the effects of climate change in his community ultimately led him to volunteer with the EV action group. 

When Cleve is not volunteering or outside, he loves to watch movies. His favorite movie (that he told me he watched recently) is Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder. He also loves any movie directed by Mel Brooks. When asked where his name originated from, he said that a past relative was named after President Grover Cleveland and the name Cleveland has been passed down through the generations since. 

Thank you, Cleve, so much for volunteering with us and for all the work that you do for our community. You truly are a star volunteer, and we appreciate all the work you do for us!  

If you know someone who does amazing work for TCAT and would like to nominate them, please follow the link below: