Still Seeking Volunteers (Oct 1-3)

In case any of you are interested in a cool volunteer opportunity, this should be a great event and a great way to be involved...

Ben

Hello! St. Louis Earth Day is still trying to round up as many volunteers as possible for this weekend (Oct 1-3). We still have about 40 to go. Do you know anyone who is looking to fulfill service hours? This is a great opportunity for middle school, high school, or college students to learn about reducing waste and composting on a large scale. Taste of St. Louis (downtown) generates 30 tons of waste in 3 days. If you are not familiar with waste tonnage, that is A LOT (about 15 times the average event in St. Louis). Please help us spread the word by informing students and colleagues about the opportunity. Thank you! Registration and more info at: http://www.stlouisearthday.org/2010/09/taste-of-st-louis-volunteer-challenge/


Cassie Phillips
Executive Director
www.stlouisearthday.org

10/10/10

Hello, future movie stars... 

I've heard from a few people regarding participation in the documentary filming October 10...More are welcome.  If you are interested in participating, there will be an informational/planning meeting on Monday October 4 during which we will discuss options and develop the full plan for the filming experience. It's right after school in Shannah's Room - 3:45-4:30.  Parents and kids are encouraged to attend.  You may also help with the planning and not be involved in the filming. 

You do not need to attend this meeting to participate in the filming.  Only if you want to be involved in the planning process. 

Ben 

RK on the River - What's NEXT?

Way to go River Kids Families! There were about 35 River Kids folks out there Saturday helping clean the Mississippi...it was a blast for sure...just imagine (insert harp gliss here)...River Kids scurrying about in the woods filling bag with plastic bottles, tin cans, glass bottles and scraps of paper or Styrofoam...mounds bags of trash, tires, deep freezers, coolers, 55-gallon drums...5 shovels digging up a Johnny-On-The-Spot...yeah, it was that fun.

Thanks to everyone for making it a fantastic day!

Here's our next RK opportunity...Our Art Specialist extraordinaire, Shannah Burton, came across a great opportunity and thought of River Kids...In short, we would be contributing a short film segment to the One Day On Earth documentary for inclusion...Shannah sent me this invitation to pass on to all of you:

Calling all River Kid artists! This is your chance to share your message with the world through video and photography. We are looking for volunteers who would be interested in doing a river clean up on October 10th and working with digital media to tell the River Kids story. We will have a meeting or two before 10.10.10 to work out the theme and practice using the camera equipment. We welcome any parent cinematographers too!

Here's some info on the documentary itself:

From the onedayonearth.org http://www.onedayonearth.org/ website: Join us on 10.10.10 for an unprecedented event. Every Nation, 24 hours, and You. On October 10, 2010 (10.10.10), across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period and contribute their voice to the largest participatory media event in history. Founded in 2008, One Day on Earth is creating an online community, shared archive, and film. Together, we will showcase the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occur in one day. We invite you to join our international community of thousands of filmmakers, hundreds of schools, and dozens of non-profits, and contribute to this unique global mosaic. Through the One Day on Earth platform, we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates.

If your schedule allows and this interests you please let us know as soon as possible.

And if you want to help in the creative process (planning, organizing, filming, paddling) please indicate that as well.

See you on the river!

Ben

Update on Cleanup

Hey River Kids Families!  If you are planning to attend this weekend's cleanup, you will need to read the following... please feel free to call me if you have any questions. 

See many of you tomorrow! 

Ben 

"Dear St. Louis Volunteers, 

Due to the river rising the parking has changed a bit for the Great Mississippi River Cleanup tomorrow. I have linked a new map along with the parking pass that you will need to have on Saturday. Please forward this information along to any other volunteers that you know are coming! 

If you have any questions or concerns before then, give me a call on my cell phone (the number is below).

Thanks!
Nora

Nora Coyne-Logan
Program Coordinator
Living Lands & Waters
nora@livinglandsandwaters.org
www.livinglandsandwaters.org"

Details on Cleanup

For those of you attending the cleanup this weekend:

It's exciting to know that we'll be out on the river again this weekend with the river crew that inspired River Kids...they helped make river cleaning cool.  We keep it that way.  :)

Note - I am traveling to Southern Illinois to go camping with the 6th graders for the next three days.  I will have limited access to email and phone.  However, I will be back in town Friday afternoon in time for the RK meeting.  If you have any questions about the cleanup, or anything else for that matter, I'll be around then...

At this point, there are still a few spots available for folks to join the
cleanup effort.  We are limited to 40 and we have 35 going.  If you are still interested in coming along, let me know.

Be at the cobblestone parking area in front of the Arch between 8:30 and 8:45 to register and sign waivers...Chad usually gives a speech to kick off the cleanup, then we're out and about until noon.  We eat (hand cleaner and lunch are free) and share stories of the ridiculous amounts of trash we cleaned (trash is also free) until around 1pm...then the party's over...until the next cleanup.

Attached you will find a copy of the Living Lands and Waters general liability waiver.  LL&W will be collecting these before the cleanup.  They will have hard copies for you to sign if you do not bring a copy of your own.

Anheuser-Busch will also have a waiver for all participants.  I do not have access to that waiver ahead of time, so you will need to sign it on Saturday.

Parking - parking is free for cleanup volunteers...you are supposed to have a parking pass in order to park for free; however, we can usually get away with telling the attendant that we were not given passes...If I receive passes ahead of time (which I'm supposed to) I will let you know and distribute them Friday afternoon in the library at the RK meeting.

How to Prepare for a Cleanup Event (from the LL&W website)

Please wear:

• Boots or old athletic shoes
• Long pants
• Light colored, loose clothing for hot weather
• Layers of warm clothes during early spring or late fall cleanups

We will provide (unless you care to bring your own):

• Gloves
• Lifejackets
• Bottled Water
• Insect Repellant

Do not wear:

• Open-toed shoes
• Shorts
• Dangling jewelry

View the LL&W release form here.