At this point in the fellowship, I am aware of my remaining projects and have started to map out what I can finish up in the next few weeks. FLOW is such an amazing organization that I wish I could complete ALL of the projects they have in mind! Reflecting on my time so far, I believe FLOW is an organization I will support for as long as I live in Columbus. I am looking forward to attending events long after my time as a fellow ends. FLOW is special because each person involved is deeply, truly passionate about their mission. As volunteers, they give up their evenings, weekends, and days off to support current projects and keep the organization functioning. I am amazed every day by the impact they have made on our city even while fighting a rather thankless battle. Our environment, water sources, communities, and bodies are healthier and safer because of FLOW. A current project that has impacted me most is the Slyh Run Bridge project near Cranbrook Elementary that I mentioned in previous posts. Volunteers with FLOW have dedicated many hours of sweat, muscle power, and planning to get the bridge installed. Multiple tons of dirt, rocks, and gravel moved by hand. After the bridge is completed, will FLOW get the credit they deserve for installing it? They don’t care! Their only goal is to help the community and make sure that the river is a resource, not an obstacle. I am truly envious of their selfless passion to keep our communities strong. Thank you FLOW!

This week I have been working on an outreach project. There is a segment of Fisher Run, which is a tributary of the Olentangy River, that runs through private property. Based on our observations on Google Earth, the banks of the stream consist mainly of turfgrass. To prevent erosion and pollution in the river, it is ideal to have a mixture of native vegetation, trees, and prairie surrounding the stream. My job is to get in contact with these homeowners to see if FLOW can come check it out! The ideal end result would be the homeowners agreeing to convert parts of their lawn into native prairie or homes to native trees. Sounds like a win-win to me! Hopefully they think the same.

I included some pictures of the hard work going into the Slyh Run Bridge project! Talk to you next week. -Shelly