Keep Rutherford County Beautiful Full Committee Meeting

Full Committee Agenda

May 13th, 2025

Rutherfordton Town Hall, 12 p.m.

Attendees: Clarke Poole, Rick Trader, Jerry Stensland, Jenna Bailey, Taylor Hardin, Amber Saint Clair, Daphne Homen, Allie Houtz, Dana Bradley

1. Administrative

   1. Funding 

      1. AmeriCorps Project Conserve Update - Jerry

         1. Federal funding match for an 8-month disaster relief position assisting with Keep RC Beautiful, river work, and disaster relief needs has been suddenly terminated due to cuts from DOGE

         2. Application denied for an ongoing 11-month AmeriCorps position due to related cuts

         3. United Way filled funding gap to keep the KRCB AmeriCorps position through the end of the 8-month term (October 15th)

         4. ROC board meeting on 6/21 to determine program priorities and a way forward without AmeriCorps Project Conserve

2. Earth Month Recap

   1. Outreach Events

      1. Heritage Day

         1. Interacted with ~200 Sunshine Elementary School students and families

         2. Recycling relay game, recycling quiz for Rutherford County, and shared about KRCB

      2. Thomas Jefferson Kindergarteners

         1. Reduce, reuse, recycle theme and reading of Stella Novella and the Last Straw by Gabe Isaac

         2. ~100 kindergarten students

         3. Love from Rocky!

      3. ICC Science Expo

         1. Presented to ~100 Rutherford County middle schoolers alongside almost 40 other exhibits

         2. Program about Leave No Trace principles, trash timeline, upcycling, and of course, stickers!

   2. RecycleBots Challenge

      1. School visits

         1. Trinity Christian School: RecycleBots overview and Recycling Quiz with ~100 students

         2. Lake Lure Classical Academy: RecycleBots overview and Recycling Quiz with ~40 students

      2. Challenge results and prizes

         1. 125 third graders participated

         2. 4 Cherry Mountain Farm Passes

         3. 12 Kidsenses Museum Passes

         4. 15 Scoop Ice Cream Passes

         5. Participation prizes for all entrants (ecofriendly bookmark, sticker, reusable burlap sack)

   3. Spring Litter Sweep

      1. Results

         1. 22 groups

         2. 173 volunteers

         3. 3,915 pounds of litter collected

      2. Received NCDOT Spring Sweep road list, coordinating paid pick-up with TDA

   4. Green Scholarship 

      1. Scholarship recipient announcement

         1. Congratulations to Aiden Wheeler at Rutherford Early College High School for receiving the $1,200 Green Scholarship!

            1. Pursuing a degree at NC State in Civil Engineering with a minor in Environmental Studies

            2. Aiden's recommendation letter states: “[Aiden] spearheaded the school's involvement in the annual litter bowl. After the Litter Bowl, he wanted to do more! Aiden motivated our school to formally adopt a segment of Piney Ridge Road to continually keep our community clean."

            3. Video link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rf4fIm1um0

      2. Awards ceremony on 5/16 at 6pm

         1. Dr. Brock Hefflin representing KRCB and the Green Scholarship Committee

3. Future Programs

   1. Spindale Projects

      1. Pollinator Garden Workdays with Ruff’ton Roots

      2. Stonecutter Foundation picnic shelter

         1. Funder supporting the construction of a picnic shelter in downtown Spindale

      3. Storage Shed work with ICC

         1. Alan has been working with ICC about the storage building behind the ROC office - we have permission to upgrade and utilize the buildings and will be involving trade students from ICC in this project

      4. Trees from Greenworks

         1. 5 free trees received through a program with GreenWorks, planting these in downtown Spindale

4. YouthWorks Summer Partnership

   1. River, trail and roadside cleanups with 8-14 volunteers on 6/16, 6/17, 6/23, 6/30, 7/14-7/17

   2. Locations to be determined based on Spring Sweep results from NCDOT and coordination with MountainTrue

   3. Some suggestions are Hwy 9 (the area by Dittmer-Watts area may be safe), Boys Camp Rd/Alan Creek/Buffalo Creek Parking lot, and Ellenboro side of the county 

   4. Graffiti on bridges 

      1. Bridges could be turned into art projects to combat graffiti. Structures near river access with graffiti could also be included 

      2. ICC Art Students could be reached out to for these art projects

5. Upcoming Schedule

   1. 5/22 Coxe River Access Litter Sweep

      1. Register HERE

   2. 5/27 River and Trails Restoration Meeting

      1. Join us for updates on the statuses of the Broad River Paddle Trail, Buffalo Creek Park Loop and Weed Patch Mountain trails, as well as volunteer opportunities that will allow you to be part of restoring our beautiful rivers and trails!

      2. Legends on the Lake at 5pm, all are welcome with no registration required!

   3. 5/31 Annual Spring River Sweep: Gray’s Rd to Coxe Rd

      1. Register HERE

   4. 6/21 Broad River Sweep with ROC and Broad Riverkeeper: 221 to 221A

      1. https://mountaintrue.org/event/mountaintrue-broad-river-summer-sweep-hwy-221-to-221a-in-henrietta-nc-6-21/

   5. Next Committee Meeting - July 8th at 12pm