MANSFIELD – Community members and volunteers gathered on Sept. 10 for the 30th anniversary of the Earth Stewardship Celebration at DLX in Mansfield.
Zoe Baumberger of Richland Soil and Water Conservation District noted the Earth Stewardship Celebration began in 1996 through the partnership and dedication of organizations and individuals committed to making our community a better place to live, work, and play.
Since its inception, the Celebration has encouraged residents and organizations to come together through acts of community stewardship.
Throughout the years, volunteers and organizations from across Richland County have invested their time, talent, and energy into projects that improved neighborhoods, parks, schools, public spaces, waterways, and natural areas.
These projects demonstrated what can happen when community members work together toward a common goal.
This year, 297 volunteers from at least 22 organizations provided over 1,000 hours of service. Volunteers painted 13 fire hydrants, collected at least 48 bags of trash and 4,900 passenger and tractor tires, planted 1,700 flowers, disposed of 300 pounds of scrap metal, and removed several invasive plants.
The event recognized that since 1996, more than 800 projects have been conducted, involved over 66,783 volunteers, and generated an estimated $2.6 million in donated time, materials, and sponsorships supporting local beautification and conservation projects.
Those numbers represent thousands of individuals who choose to make a difference in their community.
At Thursday’s event, organizations and volunteers shared details of their projects. From April through August one project was highlighted each month with participants being entered into a random drawing to win $100 gift cards to area businesses.
The summary of projects is as follows:
- Marvin Memorial Library and the Shelby Health Department conducted littler clean-ups in Shelby.
- North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC) conducted multi-days of projects with volunteers from the Earth Stewardship Celebration steering committee, Warren-Rupp, Rotary, Kiwanis, Springmill STEM, City of Mansfield – Parks & Recreation, Mechanics Bank, Mansfield Municipal Court, Ohio Health, Park National Bank and North Central State College.
- Aurelio Diaz, 5th Ward Mansfield Councilman organizes monthly clean-up projects from spring through fall
- The Richland County Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, Richland Public Health and Richland County Farm Bureau organized a residential and farm tire collection day.
- Richland County Park District and BlueScope Recycling and Materials teamed up to clean up and remove structures within the Oxbow Wetland project area and removed garlic mustard. They also hosted two additional events to remove invasive species.
- Downtown Mansfield Inc. and volunteers planted flowers to beautify downtown Mansfield
- The Ohio State University at Mansfield, The Ohio State University Extension, Ohio Woodland Stewards and Richland SWCD collaborated to provide an invasive species workshop and along with volunteers, removed invasive species at The Ohio State University at Mansfield Campus.
- Ontario High School Warrior Leadership cleaned up the area around Culver’s.
- Kingwood Center Gardens cleaned up an area of the B&O bike trail along their north property line and along Touby Run.
Zoe Baumberger introduced Richland County Commissioners Banks and Mears along with City of Mansfield Mayor Perry and Village of Bellville Mayor Brenkus and members of the Earth Stewardship Celebration Committee.
Earth Stewardship Celebration committee members include Richland Soil and Water Conservation District, Richland County Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, Richland Public Health, City of Mansfield-Parks and Recreation, City of Mansfield – Mayor’s office, Richland County Park District, Marvin Memorial Library, Ward 5 Councilman Aurelio Diaz, Downtown Mansfield Inc., the Ohio State University at Mansfield, the Ohio State University Extension, and the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program.
Zoe also invited future involvement in the Earth Stewardship Celebration through projects or joining the steering committee.
Zoe Baumberger thanked the Richland County Regional Solid Waste Management Authority for providing a $13,000 grant to fund this year’s Celebration.
The evening concluded with an additional $100 gift cards randomly given away, along with 30th anniversary commemorative cookies and native trees.