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Making West Michigan a best place to live,
learn, work and play...
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WMSA is proud to partner with the YWCA Central West
Michigan on the Stand Against Racism
campaign. Learn how you and/or your organization can
get involved!
(details coming in next month's
E-Newsletter)
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Join us for an evening of food and fun at the 18th
Annual Spellebration
WMSA's Literacy to Work Initiative along with the
Walmart Foundation is a proud sponsor of the The Literacy Center of
West Michigan's 18th Annual Spelling Bee. This year's
event will again combine the best of the spelling bee
with their Annual Celebration to become the Bee Dazzling
Spellebration. This event keeps all the fun of the spelling
bee and also recognizes the accomplishments of the students, tutors
and community leaders who
make the center's programs possible.
This year, Win Irwin of Irwin Seating Co. and
Dr. Jackie Taylor of Taylor Global Consultants, will be honored
with the Champions of Literacy Award for their work to forward
literacy in our community.
Event Details:
Literacy Center of West Michigan Presents:
Bee
Dazzling Spellebration
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
Time: 6:00 - 9:30 p.m.
Location: Notos Old World Restaurant, Grand
Rapids
To register or learn more about this exciting event,
please click here.
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WMSA Welcomes Ariana Herrera - Diversity Initiative
Intern
WMSA is proud to welcome our newest intern, Ariana
Herrera. Ariana will be assisting WMSA on the Regional
Diversity Collaborative and general administrative functions.
Ariana, a senior at Grand Valley State University
(GVSU), studying Public, Nonprofit, and Health Administration as a
major, with an emphasis in Community Health and Sociology as a
minor.
A native of Cedar Springs, MI, she loves the
Grand Rapids area. During spring break, she will be traveling to an
Indian Reservation in South Dakota for a service learning trip.
After graduation, Ariana plans to travel abroad to China for a
couple years before returning to obtain her Masters in Public
Health. She works part-time at both Speedway SuperAmerica
and the Van Andel Arena.
In her spare time, she is on the executive board of
Active Minds and is also a participating member of the Latino
Student Union, Student Environmental Coalition, American Humanics,
and Yoga Club. Her campus involvement has awarded her an “I am
Grand Valley” certificate. She loves to stay active doing yoga and
playing tennis.
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Presents:
2011 PRFC Annual Forum
Join others from around the region at the upcoming
2011 PRFC Annual Forum. This year's forum will focus on Racism-Free:
Shifting Culture, Transforming Community.
Event Details:
Date: Friday, March 25, 2011
Time: 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
(Checkl-in/breakfast served at 8:00 AM)
Location: Goei Center, Grand Rapids, MI
For more information or to register for this
event, please visit: www.prfc-gr.org.
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REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT
 Looking
to discover more of West Michigan and want to expand your
horizons, well then look no further and head Northwest to
visit our friends in Muskegon.
Muskegon has a lot to offer year-round. There
is something for everyone from storytime for the entire family at
the Hackley Public Library, to a quiet
stroll in the Muskegon Art Museum, to a
rip-roaring good time at Mardi
Gras Muskegon on Satruday, February 26, 2011.
To receive your free copy of the Muskegon Visitors
Guide, please click here or checkout the
Muskegon County Convention & Visitors bureau at: www.visitmuskegon.org.
Do you have an upcoming regional event that you
would like to share with others? If so, please send all event
details/information, along with any photos to Tedd Parsons at: tparsons@wm-alliance.org.
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THANK YOU
A special thanks to everyone who participated in an
event or came out on Monday, January 17, 2011 to
celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below
are the final numbers from the Traces
of the Trade movie/event held at Celebration
Cinema North, brought to you by the West Michigan AmeriCorps
Collaborative.
Event Details:
- 524 Participants
- 60+ Volunteers
- over 15 NPO's (AmeriCorps
& Anti-Racism groups) represented
- 902 lbs. of non-perishable food donated to Feeding America
Coming Spring 2011
The new WMSA Diversity Collaborative webpage will be a part of
the WMSA website. To learn more or to get involved
in helping make West Michigan a best place to live, learn,
work and play for EVERYONE, please visit us at: www.wm-alliance.org.
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Groundhog's Day 2011
On February 2, 2011, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from
his hole and predicted an early spring after his shadow did not
appear. We predict that it would not be a good idea to get
out your spring jackets anytime soon.
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THE GREEN SPACE
The Impact of Melting Snow in West Michigan
Melting snow can be a major contributor to pollution
of West Michigan lakes and rivers during the early spring
months. Snowmelt, just like rain, is a component of
stormwater runoff. It carries pollutants from roads,
highways, parking lots, and bridges to local waterways via
municipal stormwater systems and surface runoff. Snowmelt can
also be a significant cause of sedimentation and erosion.
“The environmental impact of snowmelt is very similar to that of
runoff caused by rain events, and in some ways, the impact of
snowmelt can be even more extreme than rain.” said Kristi Klomp,
Water Programs Manager for the West Michigan Environmental Action
Council. “It’s the same basic principle: The melted water
serves as a vehicle for pollutants to reach our lakes and rivers.
However, snowmelt has the potential to introduce contaminated
runoff to our waterways at a more rapid rate than rain events,
simply because the ground is frozen, and functions as an impervious
surface with little chance of infiltration, much like our streets
and roads.”
Klomp explained that snowmelt introduces most of the same
pollutants to waterways as would stormwater runoff, such as dirt,
dust, metal and rubber deposits, antifreeze, engine oil,
pesticides, fertilizers, pet waste and litter. These
pollutants degrade water quality, harming human and aquatic life.
“You can see the most obvious contamination as the snow banks
recede,” Klomp said. “There is always dirt and trash left
behind.
Deicing salt used on roads, driveways and sidewalks
is an additional concern. Snowmelt runoff containing road
salt squelches roadside vegetation and can produce high sodium and
chloride concentrations in ponds, lakes, and rivers, creating toxic
conditions that threaten aquatic life. Klomp recommends the
use of less harmful alternatives to road salt such as calcium
magnesium acetate or products with reduced chloride content, such
as those made from agricultural by-products.
To mitigate the larger impacts of stormwater runoff, Klomp suggests
the use of low impact development strategies such as rain gardens
or pervious pavement that will keep snowmelt on site, allowing
pollutants to filter naturally into soil rather than washing into
lakes, rivers, and streams.
Klomp said that some fairly simple behavior changes could also have
very meaningful impact. “With snow we have a good deal of control
on whether or not it melts on an impermeable surface. By
strategically depositing snow on a level surface of lawn, field or
grassy area, you can dramatically reduce runoff.”
Thank you to our friends at WMEAC for providing this
month's Green Space article. To learn more about WMEAC,
please click here.
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Meet Brett Little -
A West Michigan
Intership Success Story
While attending Aquinas College, pursuing his
Bachelors of Science in Sustainability degree, Brett Little sought
out and accepted an internship with The Alliance for Environmental
Sustainability (AES), beginning in August 2008. He learned of
the internship opportunity with AES after a friend began
volunteering with the organization.
During his internship with the AES, Brett gained
valuable insight about the organization, inluding firsthand
knowledge about sustainable, healthy home construction and how
LEED for
Homes works. His internship provided him
with the opportunity to hone his research skills, learn new
organizational techniques while strengthening his customer service
relations.
In November 2010, Brett was offered a full-time
position with AES as the Program Manager. When asked the
importance of internship opportunities, Brett said: “It is a
win-win situation for everyone. Companies get to help someone
grow and possibly find a potential job candidate without having to
conduct a tedious job search. Internships bring fresh ideas
and different perspectives while helping a company move its agenda
forward.”
Want to learn more about The Alliance for
Environmental Sustainability, contact Brett at: Brettalittle@gmail.com
or visit their website at: www.alliancees.org.
For
more information about the West Michigan Internship Initiative,
please contact Cindy Brown at: 616-871-2452 or cbrown@wm-alliance.org.
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About the West Michigan Strategic Alliance
The West Michigan Strategic Alliance was formed in
2000 and serves as a catalyst for regional collaboration among the
businesses, institutions and governmental units serving more than 1.4
million people living in a eight-county region including: Allegan, Barry,
Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo and Ottawa. WMSA works to
encourage a regional mindset, which will foster collaboration on
critical issues that impact how we live, learn, work and play.
Additional information is available at http://www.wm-alliance.org/.
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