On April 24, 400+ volunteers joined AARP DC, District Councilmember Tommy Wells, EarthShare, and the Anacostia Watershed Society for a massive Earth Day clean-up of historic Kingman Island. AARP DC recruited more than one hundred of them -- including the Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Members, Hyde Public Charter School students and committed 50+ Washingtonians. Together, this energetic group filled 250 landfill bags and 150 recycle bags, collecting a total of 8,000 lbs of trash – that’s right, four TONS – from this island on the Anacostia River.
Kingman Island is an urban treasure, a little known oasis of wetlands, river views and trails, hidden right behind RFK Stadium. It was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1916 and, according to WorldIslandInfo.com, was home to “victory gardens” during the Second World War. Unfortunately, for much of the latter part of the 20th Century, the Island was relegated to a public dump.
The Earth Day clean-up was part of a concerted effort to raise awareness of Kingman Island and restore it to its natural beauty. Visit Kingman Island online or call 202-557-1925 to learn more about volunteer opportunities on Kingman Island. Check out createthegood.org/gogreen for ideas you can use at work, with a neighbor, with a group, in your community --or on your own in no time at all – to create a greener, cleaner planet!
Create The Good is a network of people sharing tools and ideas to help make a difference on their own or in larger groups in their communities. Create The Good is powered by AARP and the AARP Foundation’s more than nine million volunteers, donors and activists.
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