[413] MTSU Stormwater Program seeks volunteers for series of April events

The MTSU Stormwater Program is calling for student volunteers and others across campus to assist with upcoming cleanup events on campus and around the city of Murfreesboro.

On April 7, the program will be having a massive cleanup effort at Garrison Creek, which was previously adopted by the Stormwater Program and already has benefited from many volunteer hours by students to revitalize the area by planting trees and establishing a tree buffer.

The Stormwater Program will have a tent set up at 9 a.m. April 7 in the Kroger parking lot located at 2050 Lascassas Pike near the creek in east Murfreesboro. Cleaning efforts are expected to last until around noon. Volunteers are not required to pre-register.

The following day on April 8, the program will be partnering with the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties for the MTSU rain garden cleanup event. A tent will be set up in the parking lot of the Tennessee Livestock Center located on Greenland Drive.

Clean-up will last from 9 a.m. to noon and will include picking up trash, planting trees and possibly removing invasive plants around the gardens at the livestock center and horticulture facility. 

On April 16, the Stormwater Program will partner with MTSU Student Organizations and Service and the Student Government Association to help clean up Lytle Creek for National Parks Day.

Volunteers for these events should wear long pants and closed-toe shoes and should bring insect repellant and reusable water bottles.

Environmental engineer and program organizer Shelia Knight expects a huge turnout for each event, especially the Lytle Creek clean up at Old Fort Park around Fortress Rosecrans and the Lytle Creek Greenway.

“We’re expecting a large crowd for the National Parks Day,” she said. “This event could have over 400 volunteers and about 200 of those are MTSU students.”

These efforts follow the program’s ongoing efforts this spring to keep the MTSU campus beautiful. On March 18, 23, and 25, Stormwater held three separate cleanup events where students from Dr. Mark Abolins’ geoscience class picked up trash across campus.

Knight estimated that nearly 25 pounds of trash was picked up each day as students covered roughly half of the campus.