From the chilly morning cleanups to the warm smiles at events, every moment you volunteered helped make this year brighter. This newsletter is all about shining a light on the volunteers and the great work they have done this year! Happy Holidays!

David R. was one of the first volunteers to adopt drains in Matthews back in 2021! Since then, David has been one of our most active adoptees, removing over 1,200 lbs of leaves from his adopted drains in the past year!  Thank you, David, for working so hard to keep your drain clear for incoming rain.

Friends of The Greenway is a small but mighty Adopt-A-Stream group that has adopted and maintained four stream segments in McAlpine and Four Mile Creek this year. This past year, they have worked hard to remove over 800lbs of trash, cleaning over 8 miles of Mecklenburg County streams!

Instead of adopting a single site, Dave has fostered a total of 6 Roots-For-Rivers sites across Mecklenburg County. By doing this, Dave has become a well-versed volunteer who has spent time working on trees of all ages and status, stemming from newly planted trees needing stake and tube adjustments, to mature trees needing pruning and stake removal. As the needs of each tree varies from site to site, Dave has been eager to learn how to care for each tree individually. He has taken on the challenge of learning the layout of new sites, fighting through, and removing competing invasive plant species, and bettering his own practices and methods to be as efficient and productive as possible. Without Dave’s help, many of our tree sites would not look the way they do today! Thank you, Dave.

This group (self-named as “Ham & Cheese”) won the annual Storm Drain Marking competition for the Youth Division. Together, they marked 55% of the total storm drains in this year's competition. The members of this group are Eastway's Envirothon group, led by Kat Sweaney and Kelly Metz (Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation). This group is passionate about environmental stewardship and learning new things about the natural world. 

This year, through a collaborative effort of the Charlotte Public Tree Fund, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, the Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District, the Charlotte Community ToolBank, and almost 200 volunteers,  Creek ReLeaf volunteers planted 1,636 saplings, shrubs and trees along with 3,000 live stakes.  Check out the highlights below!

Next month, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services will be doing an Envirothon Training on Aquatic Ecology! In this virtual training, we will be examining biotic and abiotic components of freshwater systems, food webs, and the identification of native species. This will be an excellent training opportunity to prepare students for Envirothon and expand their knowledge of aquatic ecology. This event will take place on January 17^th, 11am-12pm. Register HERE now!

There are so many ways you can actively help keep surface waters clean. One significant way is to pick up after your pets! E. coli is a harmful bacteria and a pollutant that can be found in pet waste. This pollution can easily be collected when pet owners pick up after their animals. If you or a neighbor needs pet waste educational materials for your neighborhood, please reach out to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (stormwater@mecknc.gov).

Visit StormWater.CharMeck.org for more information about stormwater pollution prevention, projects, volunteer programs, and much more!

Notice of Accommodations

Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte are committed to ensuring that our programs, services, and activities are accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternative formats, language access and other reasonable modifications will be provided. To make a request, please contact Taylor Mebane at stormwater@mecknc.gov or 980-402-4206.

Follow us on social media and tag us in your volunteer photos ! @StormWaterCM
 

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