WEFTEC 2013 volunteers will help build a rain garden at the John C. Haines Elementary School in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Tim Moran, WEF Students and Young Professionals Community Service Project chair.

WEFTEC 2013 volunteers will help build a rain garden at the John C. Haines Elementary School in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Tim Moran, WEF Students and Young Professionals Community Service Project chair.

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) Students and Young Professionals Committee hosts an annual service project each year at WEFTEC®. When the project started in 2008, volunteers built a rain garden and will be doing so again this year in Chicago. The project — Reading, Writing, and Rain Gardens — will take place at John C. Haines Elementary School. Volunteers will be removing a layer of impervious concrete and planting a 74-m2 (800-ft2) rain garden. They will provide students with an educational session before the project and are working with the school to supply information for future lesson plans. This will help solidify the school’s commitment to maintaining the rain garden.

Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Department of Water Management, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology are collaborating with WEF to make this service project a success. Read more in WEF Highlights.

Those registered for WEFTEC can sign up for the service project by adding the event to their schedule via the WEFTEC mobile app. For more details, contact WEF staff member Dianne Crilley at dcrilley@wef.org.