Visitors and Friends Clean Up Scenic Drive

Out-of-state Conference Attendees Use Their Time to Clean Our Environment

Thank You!

October 4th. 

Area residents can thank the Internet and some very caring visitors for a cleaner environment.  On Sunday, October 4th, participants in the Evangelical Environmental Network Partner Meeting and Friends of the Scenic Drive volunteers joined forces to pickup litter along the northern portion of Scottsdale Road. We're happy to report that none of the visitors fell victim to the afternoon sun or an Arizona critter. They all finished the project and returned to their homes in Wisconsin, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee and the District of Columbia. The picture at right shows   John Kuhne from Tennessee. The picture fails to show the John's face was pretty red from working hard on a warm afternoon.

Web Site Brings Groups Together

The project began with an email sent to this Web site from Robin Painter of the Evangelical Network asking if there was a project their group could do to help the Scenic Drive.  Robin explained that the conference participants were leaders of various religious organizations and shared a very strong commitment to the environment. Once a year they met to hammer out common environmental goals for the coming year.

Visitors Work Hard for Our Environment

To accommodate the visitors' schedule the litter pickup effort kicked off at 2 PM under a warm Arizona sun. Friends organized the effort and provided water and Scenic Drive t-shirts.  The City of Scottsdale provided safety vests.  The visitors and local volunteers were assigned sections of Scottsdale Road. Together, we picked up litter until about 4:45 PM when we gathered for the group picture shown below. After the photo session we adjourned to Greasewood Flats to relax and enjoy each other's company. About 6:15 PM the weary visitors were returned to their accommodations at the Franciscan Renewal Center. Everybody agreed it was an enjoyable and worthwhile way to spend a Sunday afternoon. On the way down Happy Valley Road were were all treated to a spectacular sunset and moonrise. Pictured at left is Scott Althouse from Pennsylvania. Scott enjoyed climbing Camelback Mountain the day before helping out along the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive.

Volunteers and Visitors Pose for a Picture

Visitors who participated in the cleanup were Ann Alexander, Chair, Christian Environmental Council; Scott Althouse, Staff Associate Evangelical Environmental Network; John Butin, Director of Organizational Development, MAP International; Adam Hoyt, Short-Term Mission Dept. Intern; The Missionary Society for United Methodists; John Kuhn, Director, Environmental and Resource Stewardship Center - University of the Nations/Youth With A Mission; Stan LeQuire, Director, Evangelical Environmental Network; Karen Longman, VP, Professional Development & Research, Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities; Mike Manke, Administrative Director of Environmental Education, Timber-lee Christian Center - Christian Camping International-USA, Terri Morgan, Staff for Special Projects, Christian Life Commission - Baptist General Convention of Texas; Terry Morgan, Director of Faculty Ministries, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; Don Munro, Executive Director, American Scientific Affiliation; Robin Painter, Program Associate, Evangelical Environmental Network; Fred Wiechmann, Elementary Principal, Lakeland Christian School and Sandy Wright, Director, International Family Services, Missionary Training International.  

Friends voluntees who remained for the group photograph are Horst Berkner, Bob Wheeler, Edie Shannon, Carol Meyer, Howard Meyer and Les Conklin.

About Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN)

EEN is one of four partner organizations of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, is a nonprofit creation care ministry that reaches out to parachurch organizations. Ministries like Habitat for Humanity, WorldVision, International Bible Society and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship are affiliated with EEN. Recently, the Christian Society of the Green Cross merged with ENN.

For information about ENN contact:

Rev. Stan LeQuire, Director, EEN, 10 East Lancaster Avenue, Wynnewood, PA 19096