The Earth Day parade

For the first time, the Greening Youth Foundation held its Earth Day Fun Festival at an Atlanta school and witnessed a steady stream of kids, parents and visitors showing their dedication to environmental preservation—and also to fun.

By the end of the event, more than 300 people attended the organization’s third annual Earth Day event, this time at Centennial Place Elementary School in downtown Atlanta. The GYF festival creatively mixed environmental activism with kid-friendly entertainment by trading the recyclable items that each family brought to the school for tickets that the kids could use to play games. Each family that pulled up in front of the school unloaded items such as cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bags and old electronic equipment. In exchange, the family was handed tickets that the youngsters excitedly brought to the rear of the school to play such games as The Incredibles inflatable, Plant Walk, Polluted Fish Pond, Guess the Gummies, Putt on the Green, Beanbag Toss and face painting.

Five-year-old Sage Richards, who has been to all three festivals, said, “This Earth Day Fun Festival was sooo much fun!”

For the adults, the highlight of the afternoon was the vendors, who educated them about such environmentally-friendly products as recyclable bags, bath and body lotions, soaps and jewelry. In addition, local attractions like the Chattahoochee Nature Center explained to attendees all the exciting activities and camps that visitors can find at their site. The Wade Ford dealership had a lovely Ford Fusion hybrid (see picture below) on display, which boasts a remarkable 41 miles per gallon gas mileage.

Other vendors included the U.S. Forestry Service, Keep Atlanta Beautiful, One World Link, Southern Company, Atlanta Beltline, Whole Food, Camp Scene and Lotta Frutta.

“Greening Youth Foundation is grateful to Centennial Place Elementary for embracing our 3rd annual Earth Day Fun Festival by offering the school as a venue and working with us to create an exciting day of recycling, games, vendor displays, and environmental/wellness education,” said GYF Education Director Ruth Kitchen. “We are also very thankful to the numerous volunteers that came out to make this joyful occasion happen. This yearly community event brought together people of all ages to enjoy a beautiful day of celebrating Mother Earth. We all had a lot of fun!”

The event was co-sponsored by five Atlanta schools where GYF runs its CLEAN program: Best Academy, Springdale Park Elementary, Centennial Place Elementary, Hope-Hill Elementary and Cook Elementary. GYF provided a free shuttle service to bring parents and children from each of those schools to the event at Centennial Place. Children who attended the event received a “passport” when they arrived that they were instructed to bring to each vendor and have it checked off after learning a little about the company or product. A total of 77 children got checks from every vendor, for which they received an REI reusable plastic bottle and a reusable bag from Ford.

All in all, GYF collected approximately 700 lbs. of electronic equipment, 280 lbs. of plastics and aluminum, 200 lbs. of cardboard and 150 lbs. of plastic bags.

“I am hoping that you all decide to have the festival here next year,” said Principal Alison Shelton of Centennial Place Elementary. “We would love to be the host site.”

Students follow Ranger Smith at the Martin Luther King Jr. Site.

The Greening Youth Foundation has added another federal agency to its list of national partners in the foundation’s quest to create a new generation of environmental leaders. On April 5, the U.S. Forest Service announced that GYF was the recipient of a $50,000 grant, called the Children Living Energetically Advancing Nature (C.L.E.A.N.) Challenge project, to provide up to 200 Atlanta-area students with outdoor education experiences at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, Fernbank Forest, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Park Service Site, and the Chattahoochee National Forest.

GYF has already done important work with the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The value of expanding our programs for children must not be underestimated,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “Young people are tomorrow’s stewards of our public lands, and we have a duty to help them develop a lasting connection and passion for conservation of America’s great outdoors.”

GYF projects typically incorporate numerous outdoor educational experiences, coupled with service projects such as trail restoration, river cleanups, and invasive plant removal. After these transformative experiences, high school graduates and young adults are equipped to serve as the next generation of global environmental leaders.

“We are truly thankful for our partners who are receiving funding today,” said Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests Supervisor George Bain. “These projects that get our nation’s kids outdoors are aimed at increasing access and inclusion so that urban and rural kids alike have opportunities to be active and learn about our great outdoors.”

The Forest Service has been a leader in conservation education and recreation opportunities for more than a century. The agency’s conservation education programs build on the principles of education, stewardship and skill development that result in career pathways for future stewardship leaders. These same principles support the goals identified in President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors report and by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Outside campaign and can also be a catalyst to help combat the rise in childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

“I am ecstatic that our CLEAN program goals align with our national partners and the First Lady’s Let’s Move Outside Initiative,” said Angelou Ezeilo, founder and executive director of Greening Youth. “Getting kids back outside, keeping them active and connecting them to the environment is a win-win for all!”

The funding, which was already in this year’s agency budget, leverages existing partnerships and will be distributed to “More Kids in the Woods” projects and “Children’s Forest” programs. Nationally, the Forest Service has committed $1 million to these cost-share programs that build on long-term partnerships that will result in a roughly 2.5-to-1 return on the agency’s investment. The funding just announced will provide greatly needed financial resources to expand the C.L.E.A.N. Challenge project.

The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meetthe needs of present and future generations. This year is the centennial of the Week’s Act, which led to the creation and restoration of many beautiful forests we enjoy today. National Forests continue to be an integral part of America’s environmental and economic well-being.

A night of music, food, fun—and water conservation

The green carpet band, Mausiki Scales and the Common Ground

Protecting the Earth’s precious water supply was the theme, and a night of music, food and fun was the mandate at Greening Youth Foundation’s 3rd annual Green Carpet fundraiser on March 18 at Atlanta’s Loudermilk Center.

At the sold-out event, the audience was given an overview of GYF’s impressive programs in Georgia, the Midwest and across the Atlantic in Ghana. GYF currently reaches more than 15,000 students in the Atlanta metro area through its CLEAN program and Eco-Force clubs. In Ghana, GYF is working with several schools in Accra to teach students about the dire need to recycle the city’s ubiquitous sachet water bags, in the hopes that the students will help spread the message across the city.

Dr. Victor Ibeanusi

The crowd of 120 was entertained by the funky, infectious music of Mausiki Scales and the Common Ground. Guest speaker Dr. Victor Ibeanusi, professor and founding chair of the environmental science and studies program at Spelman College, recounted his early days as a child in Nigeria, and how they led to his life-long passion for water conservation. Ibeanusi revealed details of his efforts to preserve water sources in Africa and the work he is doing with students at Spelman to create ways to remove toxic metals and volatile organic compounds from wastewater.

GYF Education Director Ruth Kitchen presented two Georgia State University students, Tyleka Moore and Mikenzie Lewis, with plaques to recognize the great work they are doing with students from Atlanta’s BEST Academy. Two students from BEST, Javian Walker, president of the school’s Eco-Force club, and Marcus Strickland, vice president of Eco-Force, told the crowd how much they have benefitted from working with Tyleka and Mikenzie. The BEST Academy team also displayed an experiment conducted by its Eco-Force club to study ways to remove toxins from wastewater using sand.

GSU interns Mikenzie Lewis (left) and Tyleka Moore

The Saturday night gathering had the feel of an upscale art gallery, thanks to the gorgeous work of artist Linc Bennett, whose pieces were on display in the lobby of the Loudermilk Center. One lucky attendee, Damita Holbrook of Keeping it Wild, won the GYF raffle to take home one of Linc’s fabulous three-dimensional multimedia paintings.

“I was moved to see many sponsors and guests passionate about our cause of increased environmental awareness amongst underserved youth around the world while understanding the urgency of the conservation and remediation of water—a depleting natural resource,” Angelou Ezeilo, GYF founder and executive director, said after the event.

GYF Founder and Executive Director Angelou Ezeilo

The event sponsors included REI, Cox Enterprises, CH2MHill, The Nature Conservancy, CERM and United Athletes Foundation.

At the event’s conclusion, GYF Board Chairman Anthony Gee sent the audience home with five simple things that each person can do to conserve water:

1.     Take shorter showers

2.     Fill up dishwashers and washing machines before using

3.     Turn off water when brushing teeth

4.     Water your lawn only when it needs it; it saves water and builds stronger roots

5.     Fix leaky faucets—a leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day!

close-up of lovely piece by artist Linc Bennett

Executive Director Angelou Ezeilo and Project Manager Mike Fynn listen to comments by GYF intern Mike Garza (left)

“Wow,” 19-year-old Josh Smith exclaimed in amazement, as he gazed across the wonders of the Chaco Culture National Historic Park ruins in New Mexico. The structures had been the center of a bustling economy about a thousand years ago. “And I’m getting paid to experience all this.”

Smith was part of a crew of 4 young adults and a Team Leader who were recruited by Greening Youth Foundation to participate in GYF’s G.R.E.E.N. project over the past 10 months. The G.R.E.E.N. Project is a partnership between the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service, and Greening Youth Foundation (GYF) (www.gyfoundation.org), a not-for-profit 501(c)3 federal organization with headquarters in Atlanta, GA. GYF’s mission is to engage and nurture environmental stewardship among underserved youth and young adults while exposing them to conservation careers.

The project was funded from the Intermountain Region’s share of $750 million in National Park Service (NPS) funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). That law, also known the Recovery Act, devoted $787 billion in federal money to fight the economic recession by creating jobs, promoting investment and stimulating consumer spending.

An end-of-project celebration was held in February at the REI state-of-the-art facility in Boulder, Colorado. John Wessels, regional director for the eight-state Intermountain Region of NPS, served as the guest speaker.

From April 2010 through February 11, 2011, a total of 16 at-risk young adults from the metro-Denver area between the ages of 18 and 24 were recruited, trained and provided with green certifications that would enable them to conduct energy audits and energy-efficient retrofits at national park sites. These young adults went on to identify and install retrofits that are saving a total of $45,266.37 in annual energy costs at 10 national parks. The parks involved were the Colorado National Monument, Great Sand Dunes National Monument, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and the Curecanti National Recreation Area (all in Colorado); Grand Canyon National Park, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument (all in Arizona); and the Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico.

“This project has far-reaching implications,” said GYF’s Mike Fynn, the LEED certified engineer who acted as the Project Manager. “We’re attempting to improve the lives of these young adults by removing them from the temptations of their environments and introducing them to green professions. At the same time, National Park sites are having their carbon footprints reduced significantly with the help of these newly trained people. This is as ‘win-win’ as you can get.”

Regional Director Wessels said the project proved to be successful on several levels. “By training and employing urban young people in this worthy task, the G.R.E.E.N. project also exposed them to the wonders of our national parks,” Wessels said. “At the same time, their work made those parks more energy efficient, with immediate cost benefits and savings. The results are impressive, and are a great model that we hope can be repeated across the Park Service.”

Project participant Marty Sias summed it up well: “The G.R.E.E.N. Project has made a huge impact in my life by exposing me to careers in the energy and conservation fields. I feel confident in going back home and helping my family and community save energy and money.”

That is exactly what the G.R.E.E.N. Project aimed to do. It seems to have succeeded.