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RELEASED: May 27, 2004
DANVILLE, KY—Like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, Elizabeth Wisman, a sophomore government major from Louisville, helped plant 3,000 trees near Clarks Run waterway in Danville.
She headed a reforestation steering committee that was responsible for assembling an educational booth during the Greek Week service event, meeting with the planning committee, sorting trees, coordinating volunteer activities and recruiting Centre students and team leaders to plant trees.
An enthusiastic environmentalist, Wisman wanted to benefit Danville's original drinking water source. Her goal was to be a part of a project that would alert the public to environmental issues by engaging the people—especially the children of the community—in a reforestation project.
The trees will act as a buffer along the stream, filtering the water before it enters the creek, providing shade to promote the growth of algae, and improving the aquatic animal populations, thereby increasing the water quality. Wisman worked closely with the Boyle County Recycling Center and Bluegrass Pride to implement and supervise this project.
The event was a tremendous success.
"The volunteers were so efficient, we ran out of places to put the trees," Wisman says.
Two-thirds of the volunteers were Centre students, and she was delighted to see that Centre's camaraderie was so strong.
"I enjoyed the fact that there were so many Centre students getting out there and getting their hands dirty," she says.
The volunteer award program at Centre recognizes some of the many students who provide service to the local community. Each year, around 60 percent of all Centre students become volunteers in the community. The College encourages volunteer service with a community service day each year as part of the orientation for first-year Centre students.
For more information, contact Trina McFarland, director of service and leadership development at Centre at (859) 238-5479 or e-mail mcfarlnd@centre.edu.
Freshman Kat Farris contributed to this story.
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