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At the Foundry
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On March 5th, Groundwork Dallas was thrilled to honor our beloved supporters Mary McDermott Cook and Garrett Boone at The Foundry Bar, a sister-establishment to the delicious Chicken Scratch next door. Nestled in the quiet but up-and-coming neighborhood just west of the Dallas' newest addition, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, The Foundry filled with guests there to
support the Groundwork Dallas cause. With over one-hundred in attendance, guests included
dynamic personalities such as Gail and Bob Thomas, Craig Holcomb and Hector Garcia, as well as Dallas City Council members Vonciel Jones Hill, Tennell Atkins, and Jerry Allen.
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Adopt-A-Trail
Approved by Parks & Recs! |
On April 3rd, Peter Payton met with City forester, Karen Woodard and the Dallas Parks and Recs department to prioritize Groundwork Dallas' Adopt-A-Trail program. Much like Texas' Adopt-A-Highway program, GWD will partner with area businesses and organizations to organize volunteer days and start cleaning and maintain sections of the extensive Dallas trail system.
Trail sections will be prioritized by the City of Dallas, and all parties are excited about this partnership. Special thanks should go to Karen for being the GWD/Dallas point person and liaison. Her commitment to our forests is immeasurable and her role in this program is invaluable. | |
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Lone Star
Trail Building School
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From February 15 to the 17,, Peter Payton led a team of 22 students and 25 adults to learn about soft and hard trail building and maintenance. Lone Star Trail Building School is a Groundwork Dallas project started in 2012 after assessing and realizing the need for a local school. After completion of the basic trail course, these students are now candidates for summer positions working with some of our local and national partners. | |
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Stuart Blaylock - is a recent graduate of Southern Methodist University. His degree and studies in Political Science have urged him toward the non-profit sector where he has decided to establish his career in development and grant research and writing. He comes to GWD with a passion for environmental advocacy and a dedication to the GWD mission.
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Looking Ahead
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April
April Let's G.0. (get outside) Month long event to get all Americans outdoor in nature.
4/13 City Litter Survey
4/14-20 National Environmental Education Week
4/20-21 Earth Day Dallas
4/21 Earth Day Oak cliff
4/21-27 National Volunteer week, a national celebration of volunteerism
April 26 - Arbor Day
4/21-27 National Volunteer week, a national celebration of volunteerism
4/26-28 - Global Youth Service Day
4/27 GWD Work Day
May
5/18 Trinity River Wind Festival
5/25 GWD Work Day
June
June Great Outdoors Month
6/1 National Trails Day
6/22 GWD Work Day
July
July National Park and Recreation Month - A month of activities focused on the importance of parks and recreational facilities
7/27 GWD Work Day
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Greetings from the GWD Team!
What a great winter and spring it has been here for Groundwork Dallas. Our organization has had an exciting planning period from late winter and early spring, and we're even more excited about upcoming projects, partnerships, and volunteer events. We have had several staffing changes and are excited to welcome the new team of Susan, Stuart, Raini, and of course, myself. We are also looking forward to the arrival of our newest member Erin later in May. With this team, you can expect great things from GWD!
GWD has been blessed with so many good friends here in Dallas. With their support, we have some very exciting projects under way. The current star of this list is our Eco Learning Center, a part of the Elm Fork Green belt master plan, driven by long-time supporter, Garrett Boone.
In addition, our Green Team at the Williams Prep Academy is nearing the end of their first school year. During this time, we had 22 of these young folk come to the Lone Star Trail Building School and complete the basic trail course. These students are now candidates for summer positions working with some of our local and national partners. Moving forward with this program, we are proud to announce the creation of our two newest Green Teams, which are currently under development and will launch in the fall 2013 semester. Seagoville Environmental Science Academy with DISD will house our agricultural-based Green Team, and Heights (one of the UPLIFT educations public charter network schools) will become our third Green Team in the Dallas area.
One new program being launched is The Groundwork Dallas "Adopt-A-Trail" initiative, which has recently been approved by the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation department. We will now be recruiting area businesses, schools, churches - you name it - to participate in revitalizing Dallas. Now everyone can become stewards of the Trinity River and Great Trinity Forest.
We have also signed a new lease to utilize the City of Dallas Eco Park building to begin teaching our trail maintenance classes, as well as other educational programming for our Green team members, and this summer we are working on a program with our state and national partners to create a summer employment program for local youth to work on trail crews at area State Parks.
As if this were not enough! We have cleaned over 70 TONS of trash and 10,000 tires out of the Trinity River and Great Trinity Forest. True to our mission, we are Changing Places and Changing lives, and would love to have you volunteer with us on the 4th Saturday of each month.
Get out and enjoy the Trinity River and Great Trinity Forest; the Elm Fork is a safari in your own back yard. Give us a call for a tour if you have the urge to see it all close-up!
Peter "Rock Man" Payton
Executive Director
Groundwork Dallas
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Where We've Been
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GWD meets Plastiki
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| | Trail Day: Trail and Water Testing - February 9
Sodexo Sustainability Conference - February 27, Groundwork Dallas' Executive Director, Peter Payton gave the key note address at the Trinity Audubon Center in southwest Dallas regarding the Groundwork USA Trust and the need for such organizations within urban areas. Sodexo is World Leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions.
Sylvan Thirty Breaks Ground! - On March 20th, Peter Payton led GWD team members to the Sylvan Thirty Groundbreaking event at I30 and Sylvan near Kessler Park where Mayor Mike Rawlings, Councilwoman Monica Alonzo, West Dallas Chamber Chairman Randall White and Oak Cliff Chamber President Bob Stimson spoke about the mayor's Grow South initiative and what was in store for Dallas in revitalizing our more established southern neighborhoods. Many would recognize the area near the iconic Alamo Plaza sign.
REI Dallas 20 year Celebration - On March 23, members of the GWD team manned a booth at the REI located on LBJ Freeway between Midway Rd . Other exhibitors included For the Love of the Lake and Birds of Prey. REI and GWD have been long-term partners and many a Green Team member has been outfitted for field work through REI grants.
Mayor's Men's Rally Against Domestic Violence - On March 23rd, Peter Payton and Stuart Blaylock attended the rally along with other expected attendees, such as athletes including Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr and former Cowboy Troy Aikman plan to attend the rally, as well as city leaders and religious leaders such as T.D. Jakes and Catholic bishop of the Dallas diocese Kevin Farrell.
Mountain View College Sustainability Fair - on March 28th, GWD team members headed out to the beautifully landscaped and environmentally friendly MVC campus which is graced by a greenhouse and multi-recycle bins.
Plasticki Unloads Boat Made of Recyclables - On April 3, GWD observed the unloading of the Plastiki Expedition
boat. The Plastiki is boat built out of 12,500 2-litter plastic boats in order to raise awareness regarding the 73.9 m tons of plastic floating in our oceans. The boat was sailed 8,000 nautical miles from San Francisco, US to Sydney, Australia.
SMU's Barefoot on the Boulevard - On April 6th from Noon to 5 pm, Southern Methodist University had their Barefoot on the Boulevard event, which was sponsored by Students for a Better Society and the SMU Sustainability Committee. The event was free to the public and activities included face painting and temporary henna skin art; participants included Shaklee, Bhakti Yoga, SMU Communities Gardens, J.C. Penney, SMU's engineers without Borders, SMU Environmental Society, and Groundwork Dallas. Food was sponsored by Kalachandiji's, Pluckers and Chipotle and music was provided by The Southern Gentlemen, JSPear and headliner Emmanuel Jal, a Sudanese hip-hop star who performed his well-known hit "We want Peace".It was a great turnout and a beautiful day at the gorgeous SMU campus!
Brookhaven College Earth Day - On April 4th, Groundwork Dallas team members headed out to Carrollton to man a Groundwork Dallas booth at the Brookhaven College Earth Day where we engaged students searching for information and volunteerism.
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Many thanks to our readers!
This quarter, we have been spreading the word about Groundwork Dallas and building partnerships with those interested in supporting our work. After reading, we hope you're as excited about our mission as we are! If you see us around town in the Groundwork Dallas Jeep or at conferences, step over and say hello! We love hearing from our supporters!
Sincerely,
The Groundwork Dallas Team
Peter, Susan, Stuart, and Raini
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Ways to Give
Frequent one of our area grocers - Add our charity number to your frequent shopper card at Tom Thumb (12795) and Kroger (90260), or pick up an Alberton's Community Partners card from us at one of our many events and cleanups.
Visit Groundwork Dallas Online to Donate Through PayPal
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