Celebrating Adopt a Drain's 10th Anniversary!
Last week, we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Adopt-a-Drain MN program. Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter proclaimed November 20, 2024, as Adopt a Drain Day to honor the milestone! Visit the link below to read the full proclamation.
The program began as a pilot in the Como neighborhood with CRWD and our partners at the City of Saint Paul and Center for Global Environmental Education, Hamline University (CGEE). Starting with a group of 31 adopters in 2014, the idea caught on and has kept growing since. In the past decade, Adopt a Drain expanded across Minnesota and is now in several other regions, with more joining soon. And of that initial group of 31 adopters? An astounding 77% are still active volunteers in the original neighborhood! Some were even able to join us last week to celebrate.
Adopting a drain is simple: residents adopt a storm drain and volunteer to clear it of leaves and debris that would otherwise flow to nearby lakes and rivers. They track their cleaning efforts, and the collective impact to protect clean water shows on a shared dashboard.
We are grateful to our program partners and all of the drain adopters, past and present, working together to protect our lakes and rivers by cleaning storm drains!
Above photo: CRWD celebrates 10 Years of the Adopt a Drain program with partners from the City of Saint Paul and Hamline University/Adopt a Drain.
Left to right: Pat Murphy, City of Saint Paul; Jessica Bromelkamp, CRWD Communications & Engagement Manager; Sofie Wicklund, Assistant Director, Adopt-a-Drain and Community Outreach, CGEE; Ann Gwinn Zawistoski, Director of Adopt-a-Drain & Community Outreach, CGEE; Tracy Fredin, Director of CGEE and Assistant Professor.
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