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With changing leaves and a cooler breeze, the seasons are finally shifting into autumn. Somehow, summer 2024 is already over– as is Arundel Rivers Federation’s first summer-long camp program! Thanks to our partners at Camp Letts, the Marshall Hope Corporation, Anne Arundel County Schools Service Learning, and the West River Center, as well as our funders at The Brick Companies, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and BGE, Arundel Rivers reached over 1,300 youth in unique environmental exploration opportunities this summer, which included:
Planting an estimated 2,000 native shoreline grasses grown by Providence of Maryland at Camp Letts and Beverly Triton Nature Park (the latter with our colleagues at Anne Arundel Community College Environmental Center through our Anne Arundel Youth Environmental Action Summit partnership)
Collecting over six contractor trash bags worth of washed-in litter following Hurricane Debby while evaluating climate change’s role in intensifying storms
Staining and preparing twelve bat houses for installation at Quiet Waters Park and other natural sites across the watersheds
Identifying native and invasive species and designing trading cards and “Unwanted” posters to raise awareness of both
Chucked over 300 native seed balls throughout campus to encourage native habitat
Evaluated climate impacts– including sea level rise, storm intensity, and heat waves– in our local watersheds
Campers also contributed to the design for a future environmental mural at Camp Letts, played countless games of “Garden Invasion” (aka Mafia for invasive plant species), surveyed macro invertebrates and shoreline aquatic critter populations, and so much more. We hope these memories stay with the campers for years to come– because the stewardship they’ve shown to these beloved camps will, too.
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