The torrential rainfall and cold temperatures on Saturday, Oct. 17 did not deter 10 dedicated area volunteers from devoting their morning to keeping the Chesapeake Bay Watershed clean. The volunteers met at the Northern end of Hunters Woods Village Center in Reston, donning head-to-toe rain gear, and their site leaders, Nicki Foremsky and Jennifer Koberstein, coordinated the three hour volunteer effort. The team spread out to gather as much trash as possible in just three hours.

Covering a large area, volunteers filled nearly 20 large bags with bottles, cans, plastic bags, a basketball and discarded items of clothing. They also removed a shopping cart from the stream. Removing litter from even the smallest of streams in this area is an important part of the larger effort to keep the Chesapeake Bay watershed clean and healthy. The water in the Snakeden Branch stream will eventually end up in the Potomac River and then the Chesapeake Bay. This annual stream cleanup event is just one of many volunteer opportunities that aids in the effort to prevent further pollution of the bay.

For more information about similar events go to the Reston Association Web site at http://www.reston.org/.



— Christy Steele