Volunteers needed for Coleman Creek Cleanup on April 22

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — The Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sustainability Committee are recruiting volunteers for the Coleman Creek Cleanup, which will take place April 22 from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Past cleanups have removed nearly 6,000 pounds of trash from the creek.  

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY — Over the past 12 years, volunteers have removed nearly three metric tons of trash from Coleman Creek, which runs through the Cooperative Extension Service and UA Little Rock campuses and eventually into Fourche Creek. Extension and UA Little Rock are recruiting volunteers for the next cleanup event on April 22. (Division of Agriculture photo.) 

Volunteers should check in at the Cooperative Extension Service’s annex building and rain garden, where they can pick up cleanup supplies, at 2301 S. University Avenue. There will also be a check-in station on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus at 5721 W. 32nd Street. Register for the event at bit.ly/coleman-cleanup-register.

John Pennington, extension water quality educator for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has led the Cooperative Extension Service arm of the cleanup for the last seven years. Pennington said the cleanup began as an annual event but has since become semi-annual due to “the need and opportunity for collaboration and stewardship of the creek.

“This creek flows down to Fourche Creek, and Fourche Creek flows to the Arkansas River, down to the Mississippi and ultimately to the Gulf,” Pennington said. “I have found that working together with UA Little Rock on this project has strengthened my understanding and awareness about other shared goals and opportunities we can work on together — projects that would be mutually beneficial for our shared campus and the community. Plus, they are great partners to work with.”

In the past, the cleanup event averaged 50 volunteers from extension, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the community. Pennington said he would like to see even more new volunteers at this spring cleanup.

“More hands on deck are always helpful in the case of a community litter cleanup,” he said. “There is something fun and feel-good about immediately making a positive impact on the environment, especially working collaboratively with other people from the community.”

Keeping Arkansas’ waters clean

Pennington said keeping Arkansas’ streams, creeks and other waters clean is imperative to the health and success of the state.

“The waters of Arkansas are the real powerhouses of the state that make everything else possible,” Pennington said. “They provide drinking water for communities, irrigation of food crops, habitat for wildlife, recreation, community and economic development opportunities and so much more.”

Pennington said the Coleman Creek Cleanup was originally started in 2013 by an extension employee with the Arkansas Public Policy Center. They suggested the idea to leaders from University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Cooperative Extension Service who were looking for ways to work together. Former extension senior associate vice president and director of the Cooperative Extension Service, Rick Cartwright, got behind the idea.

“We have a water quality education program in the state that serves several communities, and we are always encouraging and informing the public about ways they can be stewards of water quality, such as through the Arkansas Watershed Steward Program,” Pennington said. “It is important that we also do what we can, where we can, to practice this same stewardship.”

For more information about the Coleman Creek Cleanup, visit bit.ly/coleman-cleanup-register or contact Pennington at jhpennington@uada.edu.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.