The American Water Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by American Water, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., recently announced that Crawfordsville-based, Friends of Sugar Creek, was awarded a Water and Environment Grant, supporting communities served by Indiana American Water.
Friends of Sugar Creek requested the funding to help promote their community-wide water quality program titled, “MOCO Adopt a Storm Drain.” It seeks to engage community members to continuously monitor, and clear storm drains from litter, yard waste and other debris. Clearing street drains reduces pollution that enter waterways like nearby Sugar Creek and keeps streets from flooding during rains.
In 2020, Friends of Sugar Creek received a $2,000 AWCF grant to kickstart the program. With this new, $7,685 AWCF grant in 2024, the nonprofit environmental organization hopes to expand awareness and engagement with area residents and students by having them volunteer to keep storm drains clear throughout the year.
“This grant is a very important part of our efforts to increase awareness through advertising, promotional campaigns and other initiatives to get more residents involved,” said Cindy Woodall, executive director of Friends of Sugar Creek. “Our MOCO Adopt a Storm Drain is a volunteer program that encourages the community residents to pledge 15 minutes twice a month to ensure a cleaner watershed and a healthier Sugar Creek.”
So far, 92 drains have been adopted in Crawfordsville, with a goal to get as many of the estimated 2,500 city storm drains assigned to volunteers. Drains that have been “adopted” are often marked with a painted storm drain logo. In addition to the efforts of Friends of Sugar Creek, many other organizations and citizens support it, including: the City of Crawfordsville Street & Sanitation and Wastewater Departments, the Montgomery County Mapping Department, and area schools that adopting storm drains to teach students about stormwater runoff impacts.
Friends of Sugar Creek’s mission is to “protect, restore and promote appreciation of Sugar Creek and its watershed.”
To learn more, visit www.friendsofsugarcreek.org/.
