Public service means just that, serving the public. This April, dozens of City Light employees put the walk in the talk, volunteering their own time to restore sensitive river waterfront and to rehabilitate the home of an elderly Korean War veteran.
On April 19, City Light employees returned to the Duwamish River to help with cleanup and restoration of the river’s shoreline, teaming up with the group Forterra. Volunteers removed weeds, mulched, worked on irrigation and erosion controls, and made other important improvements to the Duwamish Hill Preserve in Tukwila.
The preserve is part of a larger regional effort to restore habitat and to clean up the Duwamish River and waterway. This marked the third consecutive year that City Light contributed to the Earth Day Duwamish clean up.
Then on April 26, City Light and McKinstry volunteers added a little sweat equity to the home of an elderly man in Ballard as part of this year’s Rebuilding Together Seattle project. Volunteers tore off and replaced back and front porches at the home, fixed plumbing and wiring, landscaped the yard, installed a new washer and kitchen stove, painted, and removed debris and trash. The owner of the home, an Air Force Korean War veteran and English literature teacher, also received a new bed and a framed and signed historical picture of his house. All the work was completed in less than a day.
The home in Ballard was one of 25 different rehabilitation projects sponsored by Rebuilding Together Seattle this year.