Title: President

Organization: Clean Bread and Cheee Creek

Expertise: Stream, Creek, Pond and Shore line cleanups

Summary:

I am the founder and president of Clean Bread and Cheese Creek.  I am writing to you today in order to introduce myself and my organization to you because I believe if all our organizations can help each other out, we can certainly make a difference. Anyone who is familiar with Bread and Cheese Creek thinks of it as a polluted eyesore. A stream that breaches above ground just East of Eastern Avenue then meanders a path roughly along Old North Point Road until it empties into Back River which in turn flows into the Chesapeake Bay.  We are all aware of the importance the health of the Chesapeake Bay hold to all Maryland Residents.  Those who grew up in this area remember a different creek entirely, one teeming with frogs, crayfish, and minnows – a place where many a child spent long summer days happily playing.  It is my goal to bring back that stream, not for me, not just for the residents that live along it, but for everyone who reaps the benefits of the Chesapeake Bay.  We are a group of volunteers working with the community as well as other environmental and civic organizations to clean up Historic Bread and Cheese Creek.    

Clean Bread and Cheese Creek began in 2009 with a small group of friends and has grown to encompass over 264 volunteers. While our restoration activities are focused on the 3.71 mile long historic Bread and Cheese Creek (BACC) we gladly lend assistance to neighboring environmentally conscious volunteer organizations as well. Clean Bread and Cheese Creek organizes two community cleanups a year (spring and fall) focusing on different sections of the stream with the goal to have the entire stream restored to its natural beauty. After this goal is reached we will continue to hold annual maintenance cleanups to keep the creek clean and debris free.  So far 608 volunteers have cleaned 3.75 miles of this historic stream removing 192 shopping carts, 112 tires, 26 bicycles and over 51.5 tons of trash while recycling more than 50% of this material removed. You can see photos of our past cleanups here. We have done all of this with absolutely no funding or budget. To further expand our work we have been assisting other community groups with organizing and running their own community and stream cloeanups.

Our cleanups are part of an ongoing effort clean the entire stream by 2014 in preparation for the War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebration.  (Bread and Cheese Creek has been noted as one of the possible highlighted location on the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail) The creek played a rather significant part in the Battle of North Point which took place on September 12, 1814.  Both the American and British Troops camped along its banks.  It is rumored that the young heroes Daniel Wells (19) and Henry McComas (18) used the stream channel to sneak up on British General Robert Ross killing him with their muskets before being killed in return fire.  This important part of our history should not be left the eyesore it currently is.

We run our cleanups as a family event with all age groups welcome by developing plenty of ways for volunteers to participate.  We utilize every type of persons of every ability level to contribute and assist with the cleanup.  Though it is true we will need people to dig out shopping carts and haul trash to the dumpsters,  we also use people to run water, food, tools, and trash bags (both empty and full) to individuals in the creek. People to sort recyclables from the debris removed. People are needed to work the grills as well as many other less strenuous activities.  As my grandfather always said, “Many hands makes the work light”

You can learn more about us through our website at: www.BreadandCheeseCreek.org ; become our friend on FaceBook, follow us on Twitter and/or join the Clean Break and Cheese Creek Group. You can also see photos of our past cleanups on Flickr and our videos on YouTube. You can also subscribe to out Electronic Newsletter.

If you have any comments or questions please contact me. Thank you for your time, I look forward to learning more about your organization, and hopefully working together in the future.

Sincerely,

John Long