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As an active member of Dominion Energy's Employees in Action volunteer program, Lenny Birt spends countless hours cleaning the rapids of the Savannah River along the Georgia-South Carolina border.
Lenny Birt is no stranger to the outdoors.
As an active member of the Dominion Energy's Employees in Action volunteer program, he spends countless hours cleaning the rapids of the Savannah River along the Georgia-South Carolina border.
Birt, a North Augusta native and manager of electric operations and construction for Dominion Energy, founded the group Friends of the Rapids on Instagram. This July, the group is celebrating Help Clean the Rapids Month, spreading awareness to the community in hopes of recruiting more volunteers to help keep the waters clean.
"The clean the rapids effort is all about awareness for those who are not out on the river. It's a delicate ecosystem and the last in the area of its kind in the Savannah River Basin. If we take care of it, it'll take care of us."
The group's goal is to educate the community about the waters and motivate volunteers.
“We've put up educational signs in a couple of high-traffic areas,” Birt said. “That way visitors could not only take part in the beauty of the area but could also leave knowing a little more of what makes it that way.
Each year, Dominion Energy provides employees with the opportunity to volunteer their work time and skills to support projects such as weatherizing homes, cleaning waterways, and more.
“It's a huge help getting to take advantage of the volunteer program the company offers, and I take part each and every year,” Birt said. “I exclusively use that time for conservation efforts to clean the rapids.”
Since the Friends of the Rapids launch in 2017, the Instagram page has gained interest across the community and attracted more than 500 members. Many of them have gathered to educate the public.
“It's important to make people aware of what we have in our backyard,” Birt said. “It's so easy to drive across the bridge and overlook the rapids, but not so easy to get to that area of the water and take care of it.”
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