From the Ground Up: Younglife and Ijams
Thursday June 08, 2006
From the Ground Up is a monthly contribution from Ijams' Park Manager. It provides a view behind the scenes at the nature center.
I first met volunteers from the Younglife of
Knoxville organization at Mead’s Quarry in 2001. They were there to pick up
litter for their annual Dash
for Trash, a sponsored fundraising event to earn funds to
attend a retreat.
In 2002, Knox County
purchased the quarry and turned over the land management to Ijams. Faced
with a monumental
task of cleaning up the illegal dump, I partnered with Younglife and combined
our efforts to clean up at the quarry.
Thanks to all the volunteers, we were able to open the quarry to the public in just two years.
This year we expanded
our efforts into the Toll
Creek watershed. Toll Creek flows
through the south end of
the nature center property and into the Tennessee River. The creek and its tributaries are bordered by
Island Home Pike and Sevierville Pike. The roadside ditches fill during rains and wash trash and pollutants into the tributaries
and on to the river. By conducting
regular cleanups, we are able to improve the water quality and habitats in the watershed.
The Dash for Trash event coincided with Keep Knoxville Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup. I registered and received
bags, gloves and t-shirts to use for the event.
This year, 83
volunteers collected 252 bags of trash, 63 tires and 410 pounds of scrap
metal along 5.5 miles during three Saturday mornings.
Younglife of Knoxville also qualified for the new Cash
for Trash program and earned funds for a retreat in Colorado this summer. Qualified youth groups can receive $75 per mile for roadside
litter pickup when they adopt a section of roadway in the Knox County Adopt a Road Program. The program was started by County
Commissioner Paul Pinkston and funding is provided with the support of area
businesses.
If you know of a group
that may qualify, information on these
programs is available on the Keep Knoxville Beautiful website or at (865)521-6957. For the Adopt a Road program call the Knox
County Office of Solid Waste at 215 JUNK.
An Adopt a Neighborhood Program is currently in the
planning stages for the City
of Knoxville.
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