First Volunteer Event of 2012!

AWS' volunteering and stewardship programs welcomed the new year on a beautiful, unseasonably warm Thursday this past week! Membership and Volunteer Coordinator (Maddie) and VolunteerMaryland Coordinator (Heather) worked with a group of volunteers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Riverside Neighborhood Park near Riverdale Park and Edmonston, MD.

Twenty-five volunteers worked hard to remove trash and non-native plants from the park and small surrounding stream, located right along the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia River. Nearby is also the Northeast Branch Trail, which can take you all the way from Beltsville to Bladensburg and beyond!

(Volunteer in action)

By the end of the event, we had collected twenty-five bags of trash, two tires, pieces of a car, and small plastic kid's toys. We also freed twenty-five trees from non-native vines, including English ivy (Hedera helix), Virgin's Bower (Clematis terniflora), and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

(Group photo)

Way to go USDA volunteers! We hope all events in 2012 will be as enjoyable and fun as this one was!

If you are interested in volunteering with AWS for future events, feel free to contact Membership and Volunteer Coordinator (Maddie) at 301-699-6204 ext. 109, or mkoenig@anacostiaws.org. You can also check out our calendar of events by clicking here!