University of Memphis students will be featured in a CNN Earth Day special for their cleanup efforts at McKellar Lake.
Filming took place Tuesday at the Riverside Park Marina and along the shores of McKellar Lake. Groups like the Honors Student Council and TRIO, an organization to support first generation students, came out to show their support along with Greek organizations like Lambda Chi Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Gamma Delta, Kappa Delta and Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.
For Megan McDivitt, freshman teaching all learners major and Emerging Leader, this cleanup was her first.
"I just think it's really important for people who are going to become leaders to get involved in the community because Memphis does have the potential to become a great city, and I feel like we're the only way that it can happen," McDivitt said.
The McKellar Lake cleanups began approximately two years ago when Living Lands & Waters, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the health of the nation's major rivers, came to Memphis for a one-day cleanup.
Tammy Becker, programs manager of LL&W, said Chad Pregracke, founder, was shocked by how much trash had accumulated.
"It was the worst he had seen in his 15 years of doing this," Becker said. "We knew we needed to come back and spend time here, so we held an Alternative Spring Break."
They contacted the University of Memphis and asked students to assist with the cleanup.
Colton Cockrum, assistant director for the Center for Academic Retention and Enrichment Services, was the faculty sponsor for the Honors Student Council at the time, and he encouraged the students to attend.
"While we were there, several times they mentioned that if we weren't out there doing it, no one would be," Cockrum said. "The students said 'we could do this, we could make a difference,' so we started partnering with Memphis City Beautiful and started scheduling cleanups."
In the two years U of M students have been doing cleanups, they have had close to 1,000 volunteers collect 25,000 pounds of trash, of which 84 percent was recycled. Last year, the honors students who initiated the effort were awarded a Jefferson Award.
Recently, the group has adopted the name "Memphis River Warriors" and had a logo created so they have a recognizable image.
"We have been an unnamed group for the past two years, we've been successful, so we've learned that people join people," Cockrum said. "We've also learned that people join concepts that are bigger than themselves, so we've always felt that we needed to have a name for people to rally around."
For the next cleanup, Cockrum hopes there will be bandanas with the name and logo printed on them.
"The concept when you come to a Memphis River Warriors event is that you're initiated into the River Warrior movement, and you receive a bandana," he said. "Then I would like to see people taking pictures of themselves with their bandana at events. I'd like to get some famous people throughout Memphis like Shirley Raines or AC Wharton to wear a bandana for photos."
Cockrum believes the reason the cleanups have been so successful is because of the U of M student involvement.
"This is something University of Memphis students did, it's been sustained by Memphis students," Cockrum said. "It's not a drive-by service project, this is a sustainable project that has picked up incredible momentum. It's now including other universities, high schools, non-profits and large corporations, but it is a Memphis student-driven initiative."
The CNN special will air April 22. Anyone interested in joining the Memphis River Warriors can join the Facebook group.
