Clean Currents held our first summer picnic at Meadowbrook Park in Montgomery County on Saturday, July 14th.  SOLAR OLYMPICS was the theme of the event--there was a great turnout and we had a blast!  A competitive bake-off, Olympic themed games, recognition of green community leaders, and info about our new solar options were all part of the day's events.

Some of our sustainably focused partner organizations also attended the picnic, partaking in the fun while communicating their respective missions to the public.  Live Green promotes leading a green lifestyle by offering great deals to members at Live Green Spots like Zipcar, Capital Bikeshare, Think Local First, and of course Clean Currents!  Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) collected signatures for a petition to ban natural gas fracking in our region, due to the potential of water supply contamination as a result of the process.  Arganica was also at the picnic, offering promotions on their organic local food delivery.  

During the picnic, groups that had the highest number of wind power signups in the Green Neighborhood Challenge (GNEC) were recognized for their achievement.  GNEC is a program in which Clean Currents makes a donation to participating groups for the purpose of funding greening projects of the group's choice.  The group that won the Gold Medal was "Greener in Greenbelt", which will use the donation to support CHEARS: Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to the health of all who share the Chesapeake watershed environment.

Of course you can’t host a picnic without delicious food!  Everyone who came out to the Olympic picnic was invited to sample seven desserts and vote for their three favorite creations.  Third place went to the Arganica representative, Mara McLaurin.  Second place went to Rachel Conrad and Emma French from CCAN, who baked a heavenly batch of peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes.  First prize was won by seventh grader Ali Awimbo, with her light, creamy, and refreshing lemon cupcakes.

We want to thank everyone who came to the picnic.  It was a great opportunity to touch base with our customers and to explore with them the many ways we can all live more sustainably.  We hope all who came had as much fun as we did, and hope you will join us at Clean Currents events in the future!

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