Last Saturday, September 27th, we had our 29th annual Clean Your Streams Day. While we are busy crunching the numbers from the day, we wanted to say thank you to everyone who showed up, volunteered, spread the word, and made it such a success. We would not be able to do what we do without your help and support!
The morning of cleanups throughout the greater Toledo area was amazing and so motivating to see so many hands on deck. From the strange finds (a coconut?!) to the not-so-surprising plastic pieces, your dedication on this day will make a lasting impact in our community.
We were so thrilled to be able to host our Volunteer Appreciation Picnic again as our way of saying “THANK YOU!” to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to join forces for clean, clear, and safe water. If you’ve been to the picnic for past CYS days, you might have noticed some new stuff this year.
For the first time ever, PCS was proud to partner with Toledo Mindfulness Institute (TMI) to host a chair yoga session for all those that joined us at the picnic. A special thank you to Anabelle Wojtkowiak for leading this experience for us all, for helping us unwind after a busy morning, and for reminding us to take care of ourselves and our planet. If you enjoyed this yoga session, you can learn more about TMI at their open house event on October 3rd! Current in studio offerings are Monday through Saturday from 6:00am to 7:00pm.
We also made some changes to expand our outreach and share this experience with local partners to connect with the community. This year, we were lucky to have 21 partnering organizations come out for the day to talk to our volunteers about the amazing work being done in our community and how people can get involved! So many fun and interactive activities were made possible by these organizations to further enhance the picnic experience and add a broader sense of community. Thank you to everyone that made this a special experience for all our volunteers and picnic attendees!
A big CONGRATS to our kayak raffle winner, Joan King!! This year, in addition to the fabulous raffle baskets available for our volunteers to win after completing the CYS survey, we had a “big ticket” item for purchase this year in the form of a BRAND NEW kayak! We sold over 100 tickets for the kayak raffle. Thank you to everyone that entered!
One last THANK YOU to those who helped sponsor our event:
Grant Funder
Grant Funder
Grant Funder
Grant Funder
Grant Funder
Community Partner
CYS Affiliate
CYS Affiliate
CYS Affiliate
CYS Affiliate
CYS Underwriter
CYS Underwriter
CYS Underwriter
CYS Contributor
CYS Contributor
CYS Contributor
CYS Contributor
CYS Contributor
And to all the in-kind donors that helped make it possible to give some great thank you gifts to our volunteers:
- Adventus Climbling
- Appliance Center
- Bearded Bird Fitness and Nutrition
- Bennett Enterprises
- BG Curling Club
- BGSU Athletics
- Black Swamp Conservancy
- Brew House Coffee
- Cinemark
- Clara J’s Tea Room
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Costco
- Dave’s Running Shop
- Drive Creative
- Earnest Brew Works
- Forest View Lanes
- Gathering Volumes
- Glass City Metropark
- Handcrafted by Herb
- Imagination Station
- Kroger
- Marco’s Pizza
- National Museum of the Great Lakes
- Nothing Bundt Cakes
- Ohio Lake Erie Commission
- Peppermint Narwhal
- Quenched & Tempered Brewing Co.
- Rooster’s
- Sky Zone Trampoline Park
- Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts
- Toledo Mindfulness Institute
- Toledo Zoo & Aquarium
- UT Athletics Department
- UT Ritter Planetarium and Brooks Observatory
This year, with the support of over 800 dedicated volunteers, we removed an impressive amount of trash from local waterways.
Clean Your Streams is a watershed cleanup effort that brings volunteers together to collect litter and record citizen science data on what they find. As Northwest Ohio’s largest cleanup initiative, it also contributes valuable marine debris data to the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) database.
Stay tuned, more results and data insights are on the way!