🌊⚓️ The Skippy Award ⚓️🌊

Robert Darley, lovingly known as Skip or Skippy, got connected to Charleston Waterkeeper in 2015 from our partners at SCORE. They said he was an eager volunteer and they just didn’t have enough activities to keep him engaged. Skip had recently retired and was ready to dive into the world of conservation, he just needed an outlet. We started by getting him trained up as a Field Investigator with Swim Alert, but his involvement quickly grew to every aspect of CWK, especially if there was a chance to socialize! If there was a job to fill – Skippy was the man! Sometimes his eagerness made us nervous, like when he would jump from the boat to the dock a little too early or stand just a little too close to the edge. Skip was an invaluable member of the CWK team over the years and we are so grateful for all of his lasting contributions to growing our programmatic work. When Skip got sick with Leukemia, it was hard to force him to take a step back. He really took ownership of his work on his waterways. While fighting his battle with cancer, Skippy would still show up to celebrate whenever he could. Skip passed away at the beginning of this year and it was hard to say goodbye to such a strong water warrior. That’s why we wanted to create this award in his honor and continue to celebrate the spirit of Skippy in an ongoing legacy of eager and dedicated volunteers.

This year’s recipient of the Skippy award was obvious and selected unanimously by Charleston Waterkeeper staff – Scott Glass. Scott came to CWK eager to get involved and even though it took us a minute to get him oriented and trained, he never wavered in his excitement. Scott has jumped right into the work, filling in whenever and wherever he can. We often have to temper his excitement, but he’s been a good sport. Scott definitely has that Skippy spirit and we are excited to celebrate him this evening with this award.