Looking for a way to do your part to secure the area’s rivers and lakes for future generations? River of Life could be the answer.
River of Life is a project of the Clinton River Watershed Council (CRWC), which gathers support from area churches of varying denominations and faiths. River of Life groups provide volunteers for some CRWC-sponsored events, such as River Day on June 7.
“This started in 1999 from a grant,” said Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church River of Life Coordinator Mac Deuparo. “There was a need for environmental activism in community churches.”
Deuparo calls the project “non-denominational” and is open to anyone.
“It wants to work with as many churches and faiths that want to be involved,” he said. “One of our main components is education…You are trying to educate your faith community.”
According to Deuparo, one of the first steps in developing a River of Life group at Christ the Redeemer was to survey parishioners on their level of environmental knowledge.
“We talk about things like the septic system, chemical use and well/water protection,” he said. “Often we take things for granted, that things we buy at the stores are safe to use.”
The River of Life program has been broken down by the CRWC into five different “quadrants” in relation to the watershed area. Lake Orion is in the Northwest Quadrant I.
“It’s a well-structured program,” Deuparo said. “But it really needs the grass roots…Education and mobilizing is so important.”
Deuparo explained that each quadrant of the program receives leadership, information and support from different parishes in the area. Each year the group is asked to participate in four or five CRWC activities.
“River Day is one,” he added. “They’ll actually be taking place throughout the watershed. Some people will be cleaning up streams, and some will have festivals.
“In Lake Orion, the event is in Children’s Park, with bank restoration and cleaning up the stream,” he said. “We want to turn it into a fun community act, with arts and crafts for the kids, and entertainment in the gazebo.”
The Orion Art Center, Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Lake Orion Lake Association plan to join the River of Life in events for River Day.
“We’ll have lots of activities to create awareness of the rivers, and the value of stewardness,” said Deuparo. “(River of Life) is something I’ve recently gotten involved in, but I’ve been a community and environmental activist for the past 20 years.”
Deuparo believes that one individual can make a difference.
“I’m working from a grass roots perspective,” he said. “The church needs to develop a River of Life community…We have to focus on the value of God’s Gift to us.”
Deuparo said the church has spoken out on, and given support to, many other issues, but has remained relatively silent about its support of the environment.
“We held a clean-up last year, and our youth group worked on Paint Creek,” he added. “They’ll be doing that again. But we don’t want to reinvent the wheel. There are already plenty of community things going on.”
Being involved with the River of Life doesn’t mean you will be “overwhelmed with projects,” according to Deuparo.
“There’s a lot of networking…partnerships with other faiths and churches. It’s a process that will take some time,” he said.
Anyone interested in getting involved in River of Life, can contact Mac Deuparo at 693-9117, or Lola Koch, contact person for the Northwest Quadrant I, at (248) 623-0973, or by email at wanderers1@juno.com.
For more information online, visit www.ctredeemer. org, or www.watershedprojects.com.