On April 10, 2010, 424 students from the University of Missouri went out into the community for a morning of volunteering!  20 of those students came to us at MRCN.  With the help of Mike Heimos from City of Columbia, we had set up a project for them to place plastic decals on storm drains.  The decals read "No Dumping.  Drains to Stream."  The decals do not lie!  All storm drains in the City of Columbia lead directly to our local creeks and streams!  They do NOT lead to a treatment facility!

The students split into 4 groups, grabbed their supplies and followed their maps to a subdivision in northern Columbia.  Following their instructions, the groups soon streamlined their actions.  One student would brush off the selected area, while another would affix the tar pad to the decal.  Other students would place pamphlets explaining what the decal was for on the doors of nearby hosueholds, as well as pick up litter throughout the neighborhood.  The groups also marked on a map which storm drains had been marked so that this information can be reported to the Public Works Department.

After about two hours, the students had marked over 50 storm drains and collected two large bags of trash!  They also got enjoy a beautiful (and rare) spring day in Columbia!