Biogen Idec's We Care Deeply community service with CJL took place in late Sept. This was the 4th year of participation with us. Knowing employees have a choice of doing service on that day from among many causes, we are grateful that 43 of them selected CJL!
Read MoreEncouraged by success of our first Public Awareness Pontoon Boat Tour last Fall with Durham County leaders aboard, we invited Chatham County participants for our second tour. Those aboard on the morning of Oct. 4 were Diana Hale and Karen Howard from Chatham County's Board of Commissioners; John Bonitz, Town of Pittsboro Commissioner; Rene Pascal and Dan LaMontagne, Chatham County Manager and Assistant Manager, respectively; Maria Parker-Lewis, member of Pittsboro Business Assoc. and Main St. Pittsboro; Greg Lewis, member of Pittsboro Business Association and Chatham Economic Development Corp.; Ilana Dubester, Hispanic Liaison, Siler City; Margart Sands, Outreach Coordinator, Triangle Land Conservancy; and Nick Cross, REI Outdoor Programs Manager, Central North Carolina.
Read MoreRaising raise public awareness of the trash problem is an important part of my summer internship program. Clean Jordan Lake's trash cleanups will never end unless the public gets behind the idea of trash prevention. We met with staff at the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area to explain our idea of setting up a public awareness display at a couple of their popular beaches on a weekend.
Read MoreThe heat of the day finds its way through the trees, pushing warmly on my back. I stand up and place an empty Sprite bottle into the orange trash bag in my left hand. Waving my stick for spiderwebs, I advance towards the tire lying in front of me. It has been filled with dirt and small plants.
Moving quickly, I reach into the dirt and flip the tire over. My heart jumps and I yell out as a spider scurries away, with a body the size of a grape. I am feeling extra-sensitive to creepy crawlers in my thirsty and overheated daze. Looking around at the trees I see the four orange pieces of tape marking the rectangle I have just cleared of trash.
Read MoreTwo weeks ago I left the humid air of Houston, Texas and arrived in the beautiful North Carolina sunshine. My grandpa and I went sailing at Jordan Lake the next day, marveling at the gorgeous morning weather and the birds swooping into the waves to catch their breakfast.
Read MoreAn REI Local Store grant of $8,000 to Clean Jordan Lake will improve the effectiveness of our trash removal and prevention programs. Nick Cross, the REI Outdoor Programs Manager for Central North Carolina said “we’re proud to support organizations like Clean Jordan Lake and their efforts to make the Triangle's recreation experience more enjoyable, and thus bring more people to the outdoors. This grant will bolster the organization's efforts to increase awareness and expand their Adopt-A-Shoreline and Adopt-A-Feeder Stream programs.”
Read MoreBack in January, a Jordan Lake State Park Ranger called Clean Jordan Lake to ask for help. The 17 ft. rise in lake level during the heavy rains of December and January had forced closure of State Park entrances for over a week. Shoreline signs went missing, logs were strewn everywhere and even worse, a huge amount of trash was left far up from the normal shoreline. Even though Camping Area A at New Hope Overlook is about 15 ft above normal lake level, the 17 ft rise brought all the trash flushed from the watershed by the rains into the campground area.
Read MoreThis bar chart summarizes the trash cleanup activities during 2015. AASP + AAFSP represents all cleanups by our 16 groups in the Adopt-A-Shoreline and two in the Adopt-A-Feeder Stream Programs.
Read MoreThanks to 75 energetic volunteers in our Annual Fall Cleanup on Oct. 17th, we removed most of the stain on one-half mile of shoreline. The coves near Stinking Creek entrance to the lake were covered with trash. This same section of shoreline was trash-free after our 2014 Fall Cleanup. The new load came from everywhere upstream being flushed off the land by recent heavy rains on the Haw River watershed.
Read MoreWe brought nine leaders from Durham County and City to the lake last Friday. TriangleBoat Tours donated their services for the event.
This was our first in a series of tours for leaders of the eight counties in the watershed. We want them to appreciate the beauty of the lake while also seeing why we need to educate all citizens about trash prevention.
Read MoreHow fitting that Wake County high school students and their guest students from around the world should volunteer on Sept. 19th, just two days before the International Day of Peace celebration! Sherri Brown, the Wake County coordinator for the American Cultural Exchange Service (exploretheworld.org), brought 13 international students, their host students and parents for a morning of community service.
Read MoreWe were one of 80 nonprofits to offer community service on the Day of Remembrance organized by Activate Good (activategood.org) . The idea was to unite on this day to honor those lost on 9/11 with volunteerism and acts of kindness.
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