MINNEAPOLIS — Two organizations are working together to plant a rain garden -- featuring thousands of native shrubs -- in northeast Minneapolis.
Great River Greening, a Minnesota-based environmental nonprofit partnered with Spark-Y, a youth development organization focused on sustainability and entrepreneurship for the project.
According to the Associated Press, rain gardens collect runoff rainwater through a basin in the ground, landscaped with grasses and other plants. They can help catch heavy runoff, filter runoff pollutants and provide homes for wildlife like butterflies and birds.
Nearly 100 youth and 50 local volunteers will install the rain garden over the course of two Saturdays, May 15 and May 22. They intend to plant 4,000 native shrubs to improve water quality in the Mississippi River.
The partnership between Spark-Y and Great River Greening is unique in that Spark-Y recruits, trains, and pays teens for their participation in the project, while Great River Greening provides technical expertise when it comes to planting shrubs and wildflowers, installing rain gardens, and teaching teens and volunteers about water quality.
To get involved in other volunteer projects, visit Great River Greening’s website at greatrivergreening.org.
To learn more about Spark-Y or get involved, visit Spark-Y.org.