Please send RSVPs to [email protected]. We hope to see you there!
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This year’s winner of the Clean Streams Partner Award was announced at the Annual General Meeting on November 19th. Every year, it is given to someone who has shown extraordinary dedication and leadership in improving the area’s waterways. The 2013 Clean Streams Partner award goes to Cherie Blair. Cherie has been the Maumee Remedial Action Plan Coordinator for Ohio EPA since 1996. She was the first Maumee RAP Coordinator in the watershed, working in the district office for Ohio EPA and living in the Area of Concern. Prior to that she worked at the Ohio Lake Erie Commission and helped start the Coastweeks program and the Lake Erie license plate program in Ohio. She received her undergraduate degree from Adrian College but her passion for water began as a child. Cherie grew up on Lake Erie, literally, commuting between Marblehead and Kelley’s Island.
With her passion for the area and for water, Cherie continuously goes above and beyond the basic fundamentals of her job by volunteering time in evenings and weekends. She tirelessly works to disseminate information to help groups plan strategically and to leverage more resources for improving water quality in the region. She has become a central pivot point in the work being done by the many partners including businesses, government and non-profit agencies working toward clean, clear and safe waters.
Cherie is receiving the Clean Streams Partner Award because of her countless hours and dedication for the work she does with Partners for Clean Streams and for the Maumee AOC, which goes way beyond her job description as Maumee RAP Coordinator for Ohio EPA.
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-By Kris Patterson
We have great news! We’ve been awarded a $17,000 grant from the Stranahan Supporting Organization of the Toledo Community Foundation to support our stream cleanup programs next year. But we need your help.
Our request for this grant was $25,000 – leaving us with a gap of $8,000. Will you help us bridge the gap? Make a donation now to allow us to expand our programs in the way we envisioned to support clean, clear, and safe waters. Our grant will purchase more permanent, re-usable supplies and materials, increase staffing, expand our impact and involve more volunteers for our signature Clean Your Streams event. It will support our Outreach Coordinator’s ability to build and roll out expanded opportunities to remove lead and line in the Get the Lead Out Program. Beyond those programs, this grant will expand our stream cleanup opportunities to reach even more groups and families throughout the year and clean river banks not cleaned during our large scale events. We are so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to expand our stream cleanup programs. But without your support, we will need to trim back what we’ve envisioned to fit within the partial grant support.
As a small non-profit, we are certainly used to tightening our belt, so of course, I’m carefully reviewing this already lean budget. But I hate to change the vision we had for growing our programs. Before we slash the budget by nearly a third, I’d like to give you the opportunity to keep this vision a float.
Think of it this way – when you give your gift, it will already be more than doubled!
Every gift will help and together, you can quickly close this $8,000 gap. Please, mail a check or donate online (click on the Donate Now at the top or on our website) before the end of the year.
Your support keeps our dynamic engagement and education events, like Clean Your Streams Day and Get the Lead Out, coming back better year after year. These fun events inspire students and families, build a sense of community, and keep our rivers and streams safe for people and wildlife. And with your help, and the grant from the Stranahan Supporting Organization of the Toledo Community Foundation, we can continue to grow these programs, reach more people and impact more waterways and share the love of our rivers.
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Everyone has heard of Black Friday. Some people have heard of Cyber Monday. But Giving Tuesday is a new concept for most of the world. In fact, this year, December 3rd, 2013 is the 2nd Annual Giving Tuesday. It is a day for everyone to give back to a cause they believe in. Everyone from current donors to large companies to people who are just learning about a cause that needs their help are encouraged to give back on this day. We are inviting you to become a partner and donate to help us educate public, hold volunteer cleanup events, and engage stakeholder in large scale projects to improve our waterways in the greater Toledo area. Here at PCS, we understand that it’s your donations that make us sink or float. At some point between skipping rocks and catching crayfish along river banks, the Toledo- area waterways have become an unconscious-but integral- part of our lives. For Giving Tuesday, we are raising money to ensure fishable and swimmable streams, rivers and lakes for generations to come. Please get involved by giving to the cause that means the most to you. Donations to Partners for Clean Streams can be made by going to PartnersforCleanStreams.org/partnership or by mailing to Partners for Clean Streams PO Box 203, Perrysburg, Ohio 43552. Follow the conversation on Twitter with #GivingTuesday and @PCSMaumee or check it our on Facebook with Partners for Clean Streams. Give it a try!
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