On September 14, in honor of 911, the LRWP supported @sewainternationalcentraljersey in their 911 Day of Service event. Focusing on activities for the SEWA high school youth, the LRWP hosted an open house at the Boat Shop with stations for rain barrel building & painting, boat building, and talks about stormwater management and stewardship. After our service “on land,” we then took everyone to Donaldson Park for a chance to get in canoes and kayaks to do water quality monitoring and a mini-cleanup by water. For many of the youth it was their first time paddling and their first time on the Raritan River.

Of course events like these can only be realized through great community effort. Gratitude to our amazing boat build team of Derek Hartwick, Nick Schmidt and Brian Smith, and our Water Quality Monitoring Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino. We are so grateful to the board members working behind the scenes to make this a successful event: Dini Checko, Missy Holzer, Amy Braunstein, David Tulloch, Alex Zakrewsky and Heather Fenyk. Huge thanks also to Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Chris Obropta for teaching us all about good stormwater management, to Raritan Riverkeeper Bill Schultz & Lorraine for keeping us safe on the water, to Highland Park Mayor Elsie Foster Dublin and HP Borough Council President Matt Hersh for reminding us of the impact of environmental stewardship at the local level, and to the Americorps volunteers everyone else who pitched in to support this special day of service and stewardship!!