| WELCOME TO THE
WATER QUALITY FORUM
Volunteer Opportunities Abound
Ready to step up to help protect our community’s abundance of natural resources? If so, you have come to the right place! The Water Quality Forum is lining up a range of volunteer opportunities this spring for folks of all ages. By participating in a Water Quality Forum volunteer event, you will be showing others that together we have the power to make a difference. You may also find that it is a chance to meet like-minded individuals and have some fun, to boot! So take a look at our upcoming events and check back with us for updates on event logistics. Also, as more volunteer events come up, we will continue to add to this list!
Powell Outdoor Classroom Work Day, March 13, 10 am – 2 pm
The Powell Outdoor Classroom (POC) encompasses five acres adjacent to Powell High School that offers a place for teachers to conduct curriculum-based, hands-on learning while also creating a green space for all of the Powell community to enjoy. On March 13th, the Powell High Environmental Club, along with the CAC AmeriCorps Water Quality Team invites volunteers to roll up their sleeves to join us for a POC work day. Together from 10 am to 2 pm we will revamp the walking trails, install a native plant butterfly-attractor garden, remove invasive plants and more. The more volunteers, the more we can accomplish. Come dressed in clothes and shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. For more information, call Claire at 215-5899 or e-mail her at miamagirl@cox.net
CPR: Clean, Protect, Restore, Saturday, March 20th, 10 am – 2 pm
Every year the Water Quality Forum sponsors a county-wide cleanup of our watersheds, from the corridors of the creeks to wooded ridgelines. Past years have seen over hundreds of tons of trash hauled out of our waterways or kept from entering them! Stay tuned for the posting of the clean-up sites. For more details about this event, call 215-5899 or email gwen.ryskamp@gmail.com.
River Rescue: Saturday, April 10th, 10 am – 2 pm
River Rescue is a community action event, coordinated by Ijams Nature Center, which involves hundreds of volunteers. This annual cleanup covers 50 miles of Tennessee River shoreline. Each year brings new volunteers to work alongside veteran River Rescuers who seem to find less trash, therefore huge improvements for our waterways. We still have a ways to go and could use your help. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and volunteer at one of our many sites. This is a great opportunity for any school group, church group, family or individual, to get outside and help clean up our rivers and streams. Zone Captains and boats are always needed. For more information, call Ijams Nature Center at 577-4717.
Earthfest: April 17, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Pellissippi State Community College, Main Campus
For over a decade, dozens of Knox County organizations and public entities have banded together to benefit the environment during this one-day celebration event. Residents are encouraged to come out to Pellissippi State Community College to learn about what they can be doing to save the environment, and maybe even save some money while doing it! Booths are set up to teach about everything from water and energy savings to recycling and keeping the community clean. Volunteers are needed to help man event booths and keep the day running smoothly. For more information about volunteering, go to: http://knox-earthfest.org/ and click on Volunteers.
Waterfest: Friday, May 7th, Ijams Nature Center
Over 900 area students gather for this fun-filled day of learning about (and playing with) water! These students are the future of East Tennessee so teaching them about water conservation and protection is the key to keeping our natural resources and drinking water safe. Volunteers are needed to help with activities throughout the day. To be eligible for this experience, volunteers will be required to attend a training session to be held on May 6th at 2 pm at Ijams Nature Center. For more information on this event and how you can become involved, contact Peg Beute at Ijams Nature Center at 577-4717 or pbeute@ijams.org.
Adopt-A-Stream, An Ongoing Citizen-Based Volunteer Program
Do you have that special stretch of stream that you grew up on or always admired for its beauty and would like to see it once again free of trash? Or do you just enjoy the sense of accomplishment from doing your part to help protect our creeks? If so, consider getting a group together to join the Adopt-A-Stream Program. The guidelines are simple – you agree to have one of your group members or more go through some basic training and then organize a couple creek clean-ups a year on your adopted area. If you would like to go a step further and help the local stormwater programs monitor the ecological health of your adopted section, that option is also available. For more information on this program, contact its municipal Coordinators:
Knox County, Parci Gibson at (865)215-5861
City of Knoxville, John Shubzda at (865)215-4134
Town of Farragut, Jason Scott at(865)966-7057 Return
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