Dozens Show Up To Help Clean Up Cedar Creek, Heart of Cedar Park

CEDAR SPRINGS — A few light sprinkles early in the day weren’t enough to keep Cedar Springs residents from rolling up their sleeves Friday morning. Around 75 students from Creative Technologies Academy joined dozens of local volunteers, to take part in the Cedar Creek Cleanup.

Spearheaded by the Community Building Development Team (CBDT), and in partnership with the City of Cedar Springs, the Rotary Club, and Creative Technologies Academy, the event brought neighbors together with one simple goal, take care of a place they love.

Thanks to a $4,000 Michigan Clean Water Corps Volunteer Stream Cleanup grant awarded to the city, the effort was focused on cleaning approximately 1.5 miles of Cedar Creek and the surrounding banks. Armed with gloves and trash bags, volunteers spread out along the water and the creek banks, collecting litter and removing debris from up to 50 feet of the creek’s edge.

Other volunteers, including some from the Rotary Club, worked throughout the Heart of Cedar Springs Park, tidying up around the fountain and refreshing the green space near the community library. By late morning, stacks of trash bags as well as other debris filled a tractor bucket several times over, showing just how much had been accomplished.

CTA Students donned waders and compared unusual items they found in the creek, community members chatted as they worked side by side, and plenty of progress was made along the way.

“I love seeing the different organizations, businesses, volunteers, students and staff coming together for our community,” said Sue Wolfe of the Community Building Development Team. “Seeing them do their part to clean up, spruce up, and enhance with the new park fixtures.”

“That’s why our community is so great,” Wolfe said.

Volunteers gathered at the amphitheater before heading out, and enjoyed pizza and refreshments as a thank you for their hard work. The first 70 volunteers even received a small appreciation gift in recognition of their service.

By noon, Cedar Creek looked a lot cleaner, the park looked brighter, and Cedar Springs once again proved that when the community comes together, great things happen.