JEFFERSON CITY, MO, JUNE 9, 2023 – Amanda Gray, lead administrative support assistant with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks, North Region, has been selected as the department’s Team Member of the Month for June 2023. Gray was selected for her service to the department while handling financial tasks for the region and for her efforts helping with a logjam and siltation project along Locust Creek in Pershing State Park.
As part of her usual duties, Gray handles all of the purchase orders, procurement documents, park-specific contracts, reconciliation of accounts and budget adjustments, as well as overall budgeting and payment processes for 35 state parks and historic sites in the system’s north region. She also helps train new team members and volunteers to serve on committees and projects as needed.
In addition, Gray has also demonstrated a multitude of talents by helping during a recent Section 319 grant-funded logjam and siltation project along Locust Creek in Pershing State Park. She coordinated invoices and forms with the grant team and processed all payments for fuel and rental equipment. In addition to these duties, she also jumped in to operate heavy machinery during the project.
With a narrow window of good weather open to complete the work, limited staff and the clock running out on rental equipment, Gray volunteered to operate excavation equipment including dump trucks and an excavator. Her help kept the project moving forward and prevented the need to extend rental agreements, which would have increased costs. She also proved to be an excellent safety-conscious operator.
“Initiative should be Amanda’s middle name,” said Dustin Web, the director for the north region who nominated Gray for the award. “You will never find a more dependable, caring, hard-working and intelligent team member than Amanda. She always puts others above herself and would give you the shoes off her feet if you needed them.”
Gray joined the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in September 2010 and resides in Brookfield.