January 19, 2012
REI BEND-IN-THE-RIVER SPRING CLEAN-UP
Saturday, March 31, 2012
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Bend-in-the-River (1030 W Fremont Ave, SLC)
In partnership with REI, we invite you out for a fun and educational day of giving back to our environment. We need you on March 31st to prepare the site for the spring planting season!
RSVP coming soon
BEND-IN-THE-RIVER EARTH DAY VOLUNTEER EVENT
Saturday, April 21, 2012
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Bend-in-the-River (1030 W Fremont Ave, SLC)
In honor of Earth Day we invite you out for a fun and educational day of giving back to our environment in celebration of this national holiday, sponsored by REI.
RSVP coming soon
May 31, 2011
We Need Your Help!
One of our valuable partners, REI, is
supporting a National Trails Day Service Project on Saturday, June 4th (7:30-1pm) in Millcreek Canyon. Registration has been slow and we still need a large number of volunteers. More information is available at www.rei.com/saltlakecity
In other news, the Bend has new student leadership! We will be posting their information on the "About Us" page soon! Say hi if you see one of them working down at the site.
Every Wednesday from 10-11am, one or more of our students will be working on site. Feel free to drop by and lend a hand. Please call or email us if you are bringing more than 5 friends!
Some of our fabulous Girl Scouts from the April 23rd event.
...Previous Posts
April 25, 2011
Two Great Events in Two Weeks!!!
On April 16th, over 200 volunteers volunteered for the 10th annual Earth Day Event at the Bend-in-the-River and three additional sites. There were lots of smiles, lots of sweat, and hopefully only a few blistered hands! Click the picture below to see a video of the event!
Event #2: On Satuday, April 23rd, about 60 Girl Scouts from age 5-16 and their families came out to participate in a service project at the Bend. I was super-impressed with all of these young volunteers!
If you haven't seen the publicity from the event, click on the links below:
Hundreds of Utahns get Dirty to Honor Earth Day (SL Trib)
Restoring the Community's 'Backyard' (Utah Daily Chronicle)
Annual Earth Day Event Larger Than Ever (U of U Media)
Earth Day Event at Bend-in-the-River
this Saturday: April 16, 2011
Upcoming Event:
This year the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center’s annual community service event in honor of Earth Day will be larger than ever, boasting not one, but four different service projects.
Since 2002, the University of Utah’s Lowell Bennion Community Service Center has hosted this annual large-scale community service event at Bend-in-the-River. The Bend is one of the Bennion Center’s student directed programs, where University of Utah students work with the city and local community members year-round to maintain the site which is also used as an outdoor classroom for local schools.
Over the last few years the event has grown to more than two hundred volunteers, reaching the Bend’s capacity and allowing the Bennion Center to expand to four different sites for the event, thus deepening its impact on the community.
The tenth annual Bennion Center Earth Day Service Event will take place Saturday, April 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers will go to their preferred service site (see below for a list of locations) for registration and breakfast. Volunteers will then plant, weed, compost, and more! Volunteers will wrap up the day with lunch at the Bend. The event is free and open to the public.
“The Bennion Center's Earth Day event is a wonderful way to learn about valuable community organizations, meet new people, do good work, get your hands dirty, and help create more beautiful spaces in our city,” said Ashley Edgette, student program director for the Bennion Center’s Social Justice Gardens at Mountain View Elementary, “Volunteer participation is invaluable. In just one day, community gardens, open spaces, and school murals can become a little bit greener, cleaner and more welcoming."
Site 1: Bend-in-the-River. Since being founded in 1996, this space has fondly been referred to as "the Bend". The projects scheduled for this event include planting of native species, weeding, painting over graffiti, and sanding/staining the Urban Treehouse to maintain future use. Volunteers needed: 100+
Site 2: Social Justice Gardens at Mountain View Elementary. The Social Justice Gardens are one of the Student-Directed Programs at the Bennion Center. University of Utah students helped the local community to build a thriving community garden in front of the elementary school. Projects may include: tilling new land, soil maintenance, planting, building water catchment systems, and painting murals on our fence. Volunteers needed: 40
Site 3: First Step House. This local non-profit provides substance abuse treatment for low-income clients. Projects at this site include developing and expanding the infrastructure of three local community garden sites, building compost bins, soil maintenance, and planting. Volunteers needed: 40-50
Site 4: Antelope Island. Volunteers will carpool out to Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake to work with the Dedicated Hunters Group. Volunteers will work with Jolene Hatch, a Wildlife Biologist, to help preserve Antelope Island for future generations of human visitors and maintaining habitat for other species.
Volunteers needed: 15
Schedule of Events:
- Registration and Breakfast: 8:30-9:30am. Please meet directly at your service site and look for a pop-up registration tent. (Antelope Island folks will be departing on a seperate schedule)
- Service Project: 9:30-11:30am. You will be placed on a team of 10-15 individuals and directed on a project.
- Lunch and Reflection: 11:30am-12:30pm. Everyone will meet at Bend-in-the-River for lunch and a short reflection.
Additional Information:
- This event is the same day as the Salt Lake Marathon! We are encouraging everyone to ride their bike to this event (SLC Bike Collective will be providing bike valet at Bend-in-the-River site). If you are driving, please click here to view the Driving Directions page I put together.
- Please bring your own waterbottle to reduce waste from this event!
We'll see YOU on April 16th!
Additional thanks to our sponsors:
Heather Simon at Customer Contact Channels, Inc.
Christy Thayne at Chase Bank
Jonny Murdock at Goldman Sachs
March 1, 2011
On-Site Update:
I can't believe we are well into February! Over the past month, there has been some progress on repairing the burned portion of the boardwalk. Salt Lake City has promised to repair the boardwalk to make it functional once again.
Leadership Positions Opening:
On February 17, applications for the two Program Director positions become available. I will link to the page, but the applications won't go up for another week. These are great positions and you will be working on-site and in the local elementary schools.
Upcoming Events:
A huge event will be held on April 16th, 2011 for Earth Day. Right now, we are planning on 300 people at three community sites:
- Bend-in-the-River: Planting, weeding, painting, site maintainance
- First Step House: Digging and starting a small community garden
- Social Justice Gardens at Mountain View Elementary: spring cleanup
~Nick Rothacher, Bend-in-the-River Coordinator
Winter Updates From Bend-in-the-River
January 6, 2011
It's been a quiet few weeks at the University of Utah, and even quieter down at the Bend. As the last finals were turned in, the number of sleepless students lounging in the library, the Union, and around campus slowly decreased.
I worked here at the Bennion Center over winter break, catching up on old projects and setting goals for the new year. The upcoming season for Bend-in-the-River should be a great one.
Presently: Salt Lake City, our partner, is trying to get the boardwalk repaired that burned in the brushfire last summer.
Future Plans: As the days get warmer in March, spring cleanup will begin. April 16th will celebrate Earth Day at the Bend, with over 150 people expected from 9am-Noon.
Our current student directors Kyle, Whitney, and Christina are all going to be graduating or applying for other positions, so please consider applying! Applications come out March 4th, so stop in and pick one up or fill one out on the Bennion Center website.
Next week, school will be back in session. The BC will come alive with voices and activity. Soon thereafter, the Bend-in-the-River will also come to life this spring.
~Nick Rothacher, Bend-in-the-River Coordinator
The Bend Enters Winter Hibernation
Today marks the first day of December 2010. The Bend-in-the-River site is a quiet, serene, beautiful place enjoyed by walkers, runners, and dog-lovers alike. As you can see, the site is blanketed in snow. This time of year is an excellent time to look for animal prints, watch for birds, and take beautiful winter photographs.
Past events:
REI Day a Tremendous Success!
Reflection: Saturday, October 23rd
The morning was overcast, the sky streaked with grey. I arrived on site in the pre-twilight. I started unloading my Subaru with all the necessary tools for the work project. Sipping my coffee and waking up with the morning is so satisfying, and it feels good to be outside and so close to nature
Within no time, the bagels and food had arrived, courtesy of REI. Individuals started to appear to lend assistance to the project as the sun spilled over the mountain tops.
Although the rain started in earnest around 11am, everyone was in good spirits. We had approximately 65 volunteers come out and lend a hand to this wonderful urban environmental site. Lowell Bennion, for which the Bennion Center is named after, would have appreciated the energy and pure joy that each individual held that Saturday morning.
Bend-In-The River is an urban green space tucked along the Jordan River. Many of our volunteer projects involve planting, removal of invasive species, and general site maintenance. Most of the time, we can find a good job for any age, young or old.
If you are interested in helping with this type of work, please email the Bend-in-the-River Coordinator.
Bend-in-the-River Site: 1030 West Fremont Avenue (1100 South).
