Lafarge North America employees volunteered for a Living Lands and Waters river cleanup of the Des Plains River in Channahon, Ill., near the Lafarge U.S. Joliet Quarry. The effort was part of its national commitment to the organization. Earlier this summer, Living Lands and Waters also received a $20,000 donation on behalf of Lafarge U.S. and its employees.
“Last week’s volunteer efforts were a wonderful way for our employees to help clean up the environment we work in and improve the lives of our neighbors,” said Craig Campbell, vice president, public affairs, environment and land, Lafarge U.S. “Lafarge U.S. is eager to continue our work with this and other environmental and community organizations around the country to help build better cities and communities.”
Approximately 30 Lafarge U.S. employees donated their time to help the cleanup that ran along the Illinois River at Big Basin Marina. Using boats provided by Living Lands and Waters, volunteers from the Lafarge U.S. corporate office and its West Aggregates operations collected around 2,010 lb. of trash, including seven tires and a random bowling ball.
“Thank you to Living Lands and Waters and their CEO Chad Pregracke for helping to organize this opportunity to give back to our community,” said Matthew Dantinne, product line general manager, Lafarge U.S. – West Aggregates. “We all take pride in our community, and it’s wonderful to have the chance to come together as a team to clean and protect our environment.”
Living Lands and Waters is a nonprofit environmental organization with a mission to aid in the protection, preservation and restoration of the nation’s major rivers and their watersheds. The organization works with volunteers to expand awareness of environmental issues and ignite communities into taking responsibility for a cleaner river environment.
Spending up to nine months a year living and traveling on a barge, the Living Lands and Waters crew hosts river cleanups, watershed conservation initiatives, workshops and other preservation efforts. President and Founder Chad Pregracke founded the organization in 1998 when he was 23 years old, after spending several years working as both a commercial shell diver and fisherman on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and realizing how much trash was accumulating along their banks due to neglect.
“Environmental stewardship is everyone’s responsibility, and these types of projects are essential to our conservation efforts,” said Pregracke. “The work we do with Lafarge, and other volunteers, supports the community and helps us improve our nation’s waterways.”
Lafarge U.S. donates time and money to environmental and community programs like Living Lands and Waters across the United States as part of its commitment to volunteering and building better cities and communities.
Lafarge has worked with Living Lands and Waters since 2003 as either a corporate sponsor or on localized river cleanup projects. Future 2014 events will include the Paducah Marine Challenge and Ohio River cleanup, both in September, and a New Orleans area cleanup in December.
“As one of the country’s leading building materials suppliers, Lafarge U.S. is committed to developing the materials to make stronger communities and working with local organizations to make a difference in communities where they operate,” the company said.