January 15, 2018 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day Volunteer Service Day Event
To honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 15th), Austin Youth River Watch organized a Volunteer Service Day where River Watchers and community members came together to help restore and beautify Buttermilk Creek and Park. River Watchers and volunteers picked up about 1,000 pounds(!!!) of trash and planted 94 native Eastern Gamagrass plugs, to prevent further erosion of the creek bank. The day was super successful and fun, and everyone did excellent work! Also, a big thanks to St. John Neighborhood Association – Austin, TX for working with us on this, and to Keep Austin Beautiful for the supplies and resources!
One of our River Watchers, Raquel Veliz from Austin High School, wrote an impressive article about the event for the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department newsletter. In addition to environmental education, mentoring, and adventure, we often provide our students with opportunities such as this to help build social skills and self-esteem through public speaking or other leadership activities. Check out her MLK Volunteer Event Report here!
