John Brown University’s Nature Society, or JBUNS, will build a rain garden near the Balzer Technology Center Sept. 18 from 9 a.m. to noon.
A rain garden is an area that collects runoff rainwater from sites, like parking lots, and filters the water before it contaminates local creeks and ponds.
The club, which is committed to improving local creeks and waterways, coordinated with the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, a non-profit organization based in Fayetteville, Ark., in acquiring materials.
“This [partnership] gave us a mini grant to do the project,” said Laticia Warren, a senior and co-president of the group. “They provide all the materials, and JBUNS provides the manpower.”
JBUNS meets weekly during the semester to coordinate projects and raise awareness through conversation.
Warren said past meetings have included making book boxes, “where you glue pages together and cut out the insides of the pages”, discussing gardening tips for your dorm room or for environmentally friendly landscaping.
JBUNS is one of the smaller clubs in CAUSE, or Christian Ambassadors United for Service and Evangelism, family of ministries. Ten club members are the average attendance, according to Warren.
The club, also, regularly volunteers to help clean up the banks of Sager Creek.
“We like to have a lot of projects where we can be stewards of the earth,” Warren said.