Et cetera : NCCC FEMA Corps Team Hickory 4 Cleans Up the Wissahickon Creek

Corps members Amanda Creasia and Meghan Shoop walk along the bank with Henry Stroud.

By Shea Douglas

On April 27 FEMA Corps team Hickory 4 traveled to the Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia with the Friends of Wissahickon to help clean up the Wissahickon creek. The Friends of Wissahickon is a 1,600 member, non-profit organization founded in 1924 with the mission “to preserve the natural beauty and wilderness of the Wissahickon Valley and stimulate public interest in them.” The organization works in partnership with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation eliminate invasive plant species, restore trails throughout the park, monitor watershed management issues and restore historical structures all over the park.

The Wissahickon Valley Park is a 1,400 acre park that is contained within Fairmount park, located north-east of the city of Philadelphia. The goal of the cleanup that day was to assist the Friends of Wissahickon in preserving the natural beauty of the park and to keep it maintained so that park goers can enjoy the natural beauty.

The entirety of Hickory 4 participated in this cleanup, recovering a total of three trash bag’s worth of recyclables and garbage from the riverbanks. During the day members of Hickory 4 chatted with a volunteer, Henry Stroud, who was a member of the Minnesota Conservation Corps and project manager for the Friends of Wissahickon. He remarked, “The team did a remarkable job on the cleanup. I would love to have them back for another clean up. ”

The members of Hickory 4 enjoyed their time in the park, and were glad that they worked with a diverse group of volunteers during their cleanup of the creek. The FEMA Corps members had a wonderful experience and met many great people who were hiking by that thanked them for their dedication to service.