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What is the future of Friends of Accotink Creek?
January 20, 2020 - Martin Luther King Day
Twenty-some persons came together to brainstorm over food and beverage at Dos Amigos Restaurant in Springfield. Those attending included members of FLAP, Save Blake Lane Park, Friends of Long Branch Stream Valley, and Friends of Nottoway.
Will this session mark the turning of the tide for Friends of Accotink Creek?
Don't stop paddling! Keep the ideas and support coming in!
Read the Meeting Notes Here
Gathering of the tribe at our Strategizing Session
August 12, 2019:
Some thoughts (and laments) regarding FACC prompted by a discussion of capacity-building for non-profits.
Capacity – What is needed:
- More active membership
- More public awareness of us and our issues
- More funds
Capacity – What we lack:
- Entrepreneurial instincts
- Sufficient expertise to make our positions meaningful to others
- The charisma and camaraderie that would draw in new members
- The ability to see what needs to be done and where and how
- Organizational skills (including financial) to make reality the ideas in our heads
- The individual drive and force of personality that would send us out knocking on doors in search of opportunities to spread our message.
Capacity - Some things we wish to do but seem to lack the wherewithal to accomplish:
- We need an expanded Follow the Water.
- We need a Follow the Water for adults.
- Our regular stream cleanups are not accomplishing their goal. That goal is public awareness and recruitment. “Find just one other person who cares” is our motto, but without realization.
- We should get something done on the Americana North meadow project (area you saw on 495 tour), replicating what was done nearby at the County’s initiative, in 2015 and 2016.
- We aspire to get traction in clearing the Accotink Gorge of Chinese Wisteria, something we have considered turning into a summer work/study program.
Closing gripes:
- So often we see 1000 people at baseball games vs. a handful at our events. We wonder how can we achieve higher numbers. We wonder how we can find some of the energy and commitment people so willingly apply to sports.
- We are modeled after the Friends of Sligo Creek, a group in Maryland conserving a creek very similar to Accotink. Yet they are doing so much better than we are, as evidenced by a glance at the activity and funding described in their budget
- My days are numbered. When my wife retires in another year or two, I have been informed that we will spend our time travelling. I don’t see much hope of anyone taking over the sundry tedious tasks I now do for FACC.
Philip
Some thoughtful responses to the above:
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