Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed should receive plenty of help with a World Environment Day planting set for Saturday, June 9.
After all, volunteers will get beer.
The project, funded by a grant from Anheuser-Busch, is the installation of a rain garden at the entrance to the brewery, 700 Schrock Road in Northland.
"We will be planting to naturalize the area around the entrance of the brewery, including a rain garden, and possibly weeding the pollinator garden and doing a litter cleanup, if there is time," according to the Facebook page for Clintonville-based FLOW. "There will be a light lunch provided after the event."
And beer, said Laura Fay, secretary for FLOW.
The ongoing grants from Anheuser-Busch, which FLOW has received for one-day projects over the past seven years, specify that beer is available to those who pitch in, Fay said -- which has sometimes made it problematic to have World Environment Day plantings in parks.
Volunteers for the June 9 event, which begins at 9 a.m., may sign up on FLOW's Facebook page.
"From FLOW's perspective, we're doing a water-quality improvement project, which is what the grant is for," Fay said. "We're going to be installing a rain garden and native trees and plants. The native plants will provide habitat for birds, bees, butterflies. It's a naturalization project with side benefits for water quality."
"We are working to help improve the Olentangy watershed," said Jessica Gazda, an environmental-health and safety manager at Anheuser-Busch's Columbus facility. "Since we're so close to the river in Columbus and we have an environmental impact, we're tying to show the community that we help to support the watershed.
"We're not just an industry in Columbus. We're an environmental supporter. We want to be as responsible as possible."
Amy Dutt, owner of ecological landscaping firm Urban Wild Ltd. in Ostrander, created the design for the June 9 planting.
"We have been a long-term partner with Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed," she said. "When they have done demonstration projects over the years, we have been their go-to designer and contractor because we give them a big discount."
The project will use native plants such as juniper and sumac -- plants and grasses that thrive on little water, Dutt said.
"We also want to make the administration entrance at Anheuser-Busch look really phenomenal," she said. "It's going to look mid-century modern. We want to bring ecology and aesthetics together."
Fay urged people to sign up if they wish to volunteer.
"We just want to know how many people because we're going to be feeding them lunch," she said.
And beer.
kparks@thisweeknews.com
@KevinParksTW1