Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Legacy Land Conservancy! This season, we’re grateful for our dedicated supporters and volunteers who share our passion for protecting our planet. Together, we’re making strides toward a healthier environment for future generations. We are thankful for YOU!

Legacy staff is thankful for…

Kyler and Lauren

Kyler – I’m thankful for my family – especially for my wonderful nieces Rozalia and Natalia, and my sister, who married her Husband Joe this year. It has been so very wonderful watching my family grow this year. I’m thankful for my coworkers, who make Legacy a wonderful place to be every day. Above all else, I’m thankful for the earth. For the soil and the water that nurtures all.

Michelle, Matt, Emme, CeCe, and Kona.

Michelle – I am thankful for all of these beings, my entire family and friends, the sunrises and sunsets, coffee and wine, the coziness that is about to come with fall and winter, flowers in the spring and summer and most of all, still being able to find joy in every day and living a positive life.

Pam, Tim, Jameson, and Finley

Pam – I am thankful for the opportunity to enjoy a life full of nature’s wonders with incredible family and friends.

Ari and partner Et

Ari – This fall, I am feeling especially grateful for my health, and being able to do things like rock climb and hike! I am thankful for my time so far with the wonderful staff at Legacy, and look forward to spending more time on Legacy’s beautiful preserves. I am thankful for my parents and brother, who always make the best food, give the best advice, and never forget about a Lions game. Finally, I am thankful for my little family here in Ypsi, my cat Appa and my partner Et, who fill our home with endless laughter and joy.

Cara and ‘sis-fur’ Rainy

Cara – This year I am thankful for the health of my loved ones and for getting to experience being a human on this beautiful planet. I’m also thankful for the supportive and amazing co-workers I have here at Legacy, and for being able to protect nature and our futures through work I feel passionate about.

Annika at Sleeping Bear Dunes

Annika – I am thankful for the beautiful natural and built world all around us and the people who work to protect it. I am thankful for my family and friends who help me through difficult times and make the good times worth looking forward to. I am thankful for my AmeriCorps cohort, for frogs and birds and wildflowers and sedges and grasses, for cartoons and the Animorphs book series also, for breathing and drinking water and eating food that tastes good and walking and biking and sleeping well and petting happy dogs.

Mario and Vinny

Mario – I’m grateful for my partner Vinny and our dog Daisy, who fill my days with love and laughter. I appreciate the close bond I share with my friends and family, whose support and warmth make all the difference. I’m thankful for nature, with its endless beauty and the calm it brings. And I treasure the small, simple moments in life that remind me to pause, appreciate, and be present.

Susan and Zinnia

Susan –

I’m thankful for the vast beauty of this planet

I’m thankful for my friends and family

I’m thankful for the companionship of Zinnia

I’m thankful for the Legacy community

I’m thankful for small moments of joy

Clint, Lexi, and Deb

Clint – This year, I am thankful for good health, the body’s resilience and our ability to heal, for adventure with friends and family, and for the opportunity to work with a team as supportive and compassionate as this one.

Hannah and Kelby

Hannah – There is so much to be thankful for, but this year I am feeling especially sentimental about my community, which includes:

• The fantastic staff at Legacy who help me grow and make me laugh. Working with them feels like the privilege of a lifetime.
• My knitting club, who continually nurture my desires to be more creative, silly, and generous.
• My family. I love how we have the chance to enjoy being the people we are now. I’m especially thankful for the bond I share with my little sister, my mom, and my grandmother. 
• All of my friends from school and previous jobs. I’m so glad our relationships turned into more than being classmates or coworkers. 
• All the sweet and goofy people who live in Ypsilanti. I love calling Ypsi my home and seeing familiar faces every time I go out.
• My husband, who makes time a gift. He has never asked me to change, but celebrates all the ways in which I have. And that has made me a softer, happier, braver person. 

All of these people make me think that I might actually be the luckiest person in the world because not only have they shown me that love is endless, but that I can be worthy of it

Walking at Sharon Hills Preserve

Allene – I’m grateful to be able to put my energy into a mission I whole-heartedly believe in with a group of kind and courageous colleagues. I’m grateful to the woods, fields, wetlands, lakes, and rivers. They do not speak with words, but instead, like other art forms, speak wordless volumes directly to the senses and the heart.

Diana – This year I am thankful for kind people, inclusive people, people that embrace science and facts, and those that show and display respect for their fellow humans every day.  And, most importantly, I am thankful for the organizations and people that realize how fragile our natural spaces are and work hard to protect them for future generations. Remember, nature can heal the hurting and fearful soul.

Krista (center) trekking the Porcupine Mountains this summer with her best friends, John and Mariah.

Krista – 2024 has been a year of tremendous change, but I’m immensely grateful for the safety, love and comfort of my community: My friends, who have traveled every high and low right beside me; my family, who have been my unconditional cheerleaders; and my smart, passionate, kind co-workers who have made coming to work alongside them to protect this beautiful landscape every day a joy and a privilege.