Salt Lake City - Environment

We spent Easter Sunday at the church known as home for the week, socializing with the locals and the homeless during a breakfast provided to the community by the church. After a night of exploring the city and getting settled in, we woke up today to an unexpected blizzard, quickly causing a shift in our service plans for the day.

Having previously planning on getting up into the mountains, instead we participated in other projects that weren't at weather dependent. The executive director of Save Our Canyons led us through an orientation about the service we will be doing and why it's vitally important to the preservation of the Wasatch mountain range. Community outreach and promoting awareness about the projects this non-profit is involved in are two of the most essential things that can be done to further their goals. Our group is going to be their "boots on the ground" as they like to call it, and today we were just that.

The day was spent journeying to different local businesses and restaurants around Salt Lake City passing out flyers, and hanging up posters about upcoming events. We spoke with as many people as we could about the issues surrounding the canyons, and by the end of the day over 40 locations had been reached. Several of us also assisted the organization by building their social media platforms and increasing their online presence, as well as making improvements to their website.

Protecting the natural state of these canyons is not only incredibly important for the water sheds in the area which are 70% of the city's water supply, but preserving the wilderness for wildlife and human enjoyment as well. These mountains and canyons are truly an indisputable asset and resource for our population.

We returned to the church for a home cooked meal prepared by Elena, Charlie and Maciej, consisted of pesto and salad. The night ended with a game of Uno and a rewarding group reflection. 

We were able to experience on of the best views in Salt Lake City after only a short hike on Easter! Some participants are not pictured.