What an amazing day! On October 14th, a warm and sunny Sunday, the Lower Mainland Green Team with 80 volunteers (80!) planted 214 potted shrubs and trees, tackled Himalayan Blackberry, removing 21 cubic meters and erected fence posts at Katzie Slough!
Thanks to everyone who participated: Ashveer, Austin, Kyle, Alex, Aliya, Greta, Ross, Jordan, Wen-Chi, Cassandra, Yunwen, Derrick, Douglas, Chuyi, Brian, Ian R., Graham, Lily, Jackson, Jackie, Janet, Jasminn, Jason, Stephanie, Julia, Tikshan, Kate, Kennedy, Kristina, Lisa, Loveland, Jiao, Ian P., Marnie, Matthew, Mike, Moises, Hunter, Opharsh, Rielle, Kate, Simran, Simon, Samantha, Taryn, Emily, Uzair, Yi-Cheng, Yuliana, Aubert, Stephanie, Zixuan, Declan, Trislan, Linden, Owen, Jonathan, Michael, Lianna, Richard, the 13 children under 10 years old and 7-10 volunteer who didn’t sign in
Thank you to:
- City of Pitt Meadows for being forward thinking and partnering with our charity to make this wonderful community engagement activity happen
- Katzie First Nation councilor Rick Bailey for welcoming the volunteers and giving us a history of the land
- Mayor John Becker for acknowledging the importance of the work the volunteers were there to do
- Susanne for all your hard work on this event and highlighting local groups Alouette River Management Society (ARMS), Watershed Watch Salmon Society (ARMS), and Kanaka Education and Environment Partnership Society (KEEPS)
- Greta for providing volunteers with additional info about ARMS and bringing extra loppers and shovels for our volunteers
- Our amazing volunteer leaders: Kristen, Brian, Julia and Taryn
- Those who helped put tents up, set up, pack up, round up volunteers..: Meghan from Watershed Watch Salmon Society, City of Pitt Meadows Councillor Mike Stark, Kristina and her two awesome kids Hunter and Jordan and countless others.
Volunteers at Katzie Slough!
For more photos please click HERE (scroll down for before & after shots and a few photos of volunteers in action)
Highlights:
- 80 volunteers contributed 313 hours
- 39 volunteers were introduced to Katzie Slough for the first time
- 35 volunteers learned how to plant native species for the first time
- 30 volunteers had never removed invasive plants before
- We removed 21 cubic meters of Himalayan Blackberry and English Ivy from 50 square meters of park land!
- 214 native plant species (Western Red Cedar, Red-Twig Dogwood, Pacific Willow, Pacific Ninebark, Nootka Rose, Sitka Spruce) were planted in soil previously covered in Reed Canary Grass!
- Some of the native species we planted were provided in-kind by NATS Nursery Ltd. Thank you!
- Volunteers worked hard erecting fence posts
- Volunteer received vegetable seeds from West Coast Seeds and bath oil bars from LUSH
- Starbucks (19184 Lougheed Hwy, Pitt Meadows) provided coffee for the event
- Our volunteer leaders received awesome honey and lip balms from local business Dr. Bee
- We had volunteers from, 583 Cadets, 1st Pitt Meadows Scouts, 1st Pitt Meadows Rangers, Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society, Alouette River Management Society, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Nature Kids and families of the neighbourhood!
- Many volunteers walked, transited, and rode their bikes, way to be green!
- The majority of participants came from Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge; however, we also welcomed volunteers from Coquitlam, Langley, Chilliwack, Mission, Abbotsford, Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver
What some of the volunteers said:
Enjoyed seeing so many people and youth excited to improve there wild areas – Jackie
The impact of this program is education for sure… The educational part in it was amazing; bringing awareness to the community is so important. As well being given the opportunity to get to know the people in your community is greatly appreciated. This was a great learning opportunity for the Girl Guides and they really enjoyed the day. They are excited about taking ownership of their little piece of land they worked on which is really great. – Janet
I learn several invasive species in BC and their impact today. I learn more on my day-to-day surroundings.Thank you so much LMGT. Thank you for organizing this meaningful event. It was a rather unusual and exciting experience for me. I would love to see you again – Yunwen
I enjoyed learning the invasion species issue. When I get home after being a volunteer today, I start to observe if there are Blackberries around my neighborhood – Wen-Chi
I most enjoyed the hospitality and sense of belonging. The impact of this program was to work towards a healthier and greener lower mainland by focusing on communities and helping to resolve the spread the advancement of invasive species all the whole helping nurture and strengthen native species – Simran
It makes such a huge difference environmentally and is so nice to see people coming together as a community – Kristina
I heard people saying their learned a lot. That is good. We need to keep educating people and hope they spread the word – Lisa
I most enjoyed the knowledge and energy / happiness of the organizers – and how easy and organized it was. the impact of the program was it helps the ecosystem, helps us all understand the ecosystem and spread the impact – Marnie
I most enjoyed pretty much everything,the weather was perfect and so nice to see so many people come out to help a good cause – Ross
I enjoy the part where everyone was very welcoming and also the part where I can experience hands on activities which is something I have never done before! I really felt relaxed and happy after the activity. I really enjoyed it – Stephanie
BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS
Volunteers in Action
