Clean water challenge
WildPlaces created the Río Limpio/Clean River Water Program in 2004 to clean up our river, educate on the importance of stewardship and community responsibility, and ensure the long term health of our local ecosystems and economy. The clean ups include garbage and graffiti removal and over the years have made a huge impact on the amount of trash and graffiti seen on the river. The Tule River Partnership grows with every clean-up and education outreach season and is made up of various groups and individuals, including the US Forest Service, CSET (Community Services Employment Training), and the Tule River Parkway Association.
The second river clean-up of the year, titled The Clean Water Challenge: Caring for Community and World took place on July 10. WildPlaces partnered with local church groups for a Clean Water mission extravaganza. The Clean Water Challenge combined local and global stewardship, pairing a Tule River clean-up and education outreach with a fundraising event to address our worldwide water crisis.
This was an extremely collaborative event. The barbecue, educational water games, and raffle prize give-a-way after the clean-up were held at Lighthouse Chapel in Springville. WildPlaces provided the food and drinks and the Chapel provided the facilities and volunteers from the congregation to prepare and cook the food. The Steadfast band, led by youth pastor Tom Harrison from the First Southern Baptist Congregation in Porterville, entertained the volunteers with upbeat faith-based music. There were several local and corporate donors including Coffee etc., Gifford’s Market, the Springville Inn, Home Depot, Porterville Lanes, McDermont Field House, Starbucks, Galaxy Theatres, Island Waterpark, Wild Water Adventure Park and Walmart.
With a total of 85 volunteers spanning from the Tule River Parkway in Porterville, and led by the Tule River Parkway Association, up to the middle fork of the Tule River in Springville, around 100 bags of trash and recyclables were collected. All recyclables were donated to the CSET recycling center located off of Highway 190. CSET provides job training and skills to ask-risk and underprivileged youth and the recycling center serves both as a training site and provides funding for the program.
Local churches are continuing to raise funding for The Water Project: a worldwide Christian non-profit organization focusing on long-term clean water solutions, including well-building and well-rehabilitation in Haiti and beyond. With the recent catastrophic natural disaster in Haiti and the great need for drinkable water, our focus for the event was the Haiti relief effort and connecting local and global stewardship in the fight for clean water. If you would like to donate or learn more about the Clean Water Challenge visit the Water Project website: http://thewaterproject.org/wildplaces/.
Our next clean-up is scheduled for Sept. 25, Public Lands Day. Mark it on your calendar! Contact Emily, at emily@wildplaces.net, if you or a group you are involved with is interested in volunteering; a barbecue, education, and entertainment to follow the clean-up.
Mehmet McMillan is Executive Director of WildPlaces; more information is online at www.wildplaces.net.
