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The Niagara County Central Rotary collaborated with the BOCES carpentry class in Sanborn. The students built six (6) Little Lending Libraries. The lucky recipients: two at Niagara Wheatfield School (one was placed on the walking trail and the other location is still being determined), two at Wilson School (one for children and one for adults), one at the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara Falls, and the sixth one has yet to find a home. The students not only received self-satisfaction for their part in a great community project, it counted as a portion of their grade. What is a Little Lending Library? It is a free book-sharing box where anyone may take a book or share a book. It functions on the honor system. If you take a book or two from the Little Lending Library, try to bring some to share to that same library, or another in your area. The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 by the late Todd Bol in Hudson, Wisconsin. Bol mounted a wooden container, designed to look like a one-room schoolhouse, on a post on his lawn and filled it with books as a tribute to his late mother, a book lover and school teacher. |
Earth Day Cleanup Group Participation
Niagara County Central Rotary Club President, Dave Evans, and fellow Rotarian Tim Carter, Wilson Central School District Superintendent, celebrated an Earth Day cleanup on April 24, 2021 at the Wilson-Tuscarora State Park’s Roosevelt Beach.
Carter explained, “This was a great opportunity to not only celebrate our community, but to ask ourselves what we can do to conserve it for ourselves and future generations. It was the first year Wilson Central School District took part in the Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup initiative sponsored by the Niagara County Central Rotary Club, the Village of Wilson, and the Town of Wilson. It gave the community a chance to work together and to show our support in protecting our environment.”
The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup initiative is an effort that has grown from a District 7090 service project covering a small portion of Lake Ontario and Erie to a multi-district plan to focus Rotarians’ attention to all five of the Great Lakes, the streams, and waterways feeding them. The Rotary Club’s goal was to make this the single largest local cleanup event ever planned to coincide with Earth Day 2021 on the Great Lakes Watershed. The Great Lakes contain almost 20% of the world’s fresh water and is arguably the largest source of fresh water on the planet.
Evans explained, “We especially wanted to remove waste that can be potentially ingested by pets and other wildlife. We are very fortunate to have such an amazing natural resource in our backyard. It is a great way to educate the public about the effects of littering, the importance of recycling, and instill a sense of stewardship about our planet.”
Fifty one years after the first Earth Day in 1970, the Niagara County Central Rotary joined fellow volunteers equipped with bags, gloves and trash grabbers. The team celebrated community, worked together to make a difference, and helped to protect our environment.
NIAGARA WHEATFIELD ECO CAMPUS REVITALIZATION PROJECT
Community collaboration is the strength of the Niagara Wheatfield Eco Campus Revitalization project at the Niagara Wheatfield Schools. This bi-annual community-based engagement activity focuses on an approximately 1.8 mile trail surrounding the High School and Middle School campus. The area immediately surrounding Cayuga Creek is a natural western border to the Niagara Wheatfield campus.
Cayuga Creek is the schools’ direct connection to the Great Lakes, which provides our community with everything from clean drinking water to economic and recreational benefits. Superintendent, Daniel Ljiljanich explained, “our project will not only continue to make those tangible improvements to local water quality, but it also provide tremendous learning opportunities for our students and nature-based recreation and fitness opportunities for our community.” For some it is their first experience not only using a rake, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow, but planting flowers & trees and spreading mulch is certainly a new experience. Niagara County Central Rotary Chairperson, Pat Sullivan, remarked...“Though it is hard work, volunteers never say they will not do the tasks. They learn from one another and develop a comradery working side-by-side (the young and the not so young). It is always a rewarding experience for all."
For additional information on how you can be involved, please contact Chairperson Pat Sullivan via email at fpsully122@aol.com or at (716) 622-5470.
