This weekend, the Clean River Advisory Council (C-RAC) will plant a hundred trees to promote equity for river communities.
On Saturday, October 26th, C-RAC will plant 85 trees at the Loud Thunder Forest Preserve and 15 more trees at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island. Planting will begin at 9 a.m. in both locations.
The event is a joint effort between C-RAC, the Quad Cities Community Foundation (QCCF), the West End Revitalization Project, Rock Island County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Living Lands and Waters.
C-RAC Facilitator and Founder of Iman Consulting LaDrina Wilson said the event will kick off C-RAC’s Mississippi River Equity Vision (M-REV) movement. She said the Mississippi-REV promotes natural-based solutions to connect and protect the community with the river.
“The tree equity project that we’re doing right now is a great example of a nature-based solution, where we’re saying ‘Hey, we know that trees provide weatherization,'" Wilson said. “The strong root systems of the trees create a system for reduced impact of flooding and just really overall make sure our soil quality is better, so we’re just trying to get back to some of those natural approaches.”
Wilson said more events like this are to come in C-RAC’s Mississippi-REV future.
Community members can find more information and register to volunteer online.
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