Representing Cultivating Connections at Earth Walk planning meetings has been a real pleasure. It has been a great opportunity to get to know some wonderful new folks and to hang with some old friends. The planning team is a talented group of representatives from fifteen of Louisville’s most dedicated, environmentally-focused organizations, many of which I’m already engaged with in some manner.  For example, I’ve attended numerous programs at Passionist Earth and Spirit Center; been a KFTC member for decades; consulted with Louisville Nature Center; volunteered with Project Warm; supported and partnered with Greater Louisville Sierra Club and 350 Louisville; AND I worked for three years at Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light (KIPL)

Having us all together in the same room, focused on one particular project, has been both unique and fun.  It doesn’t hurt at all that Tim Darst (KIPL) runs a highly efficient meeting and that the group tends to stay on task. And it certainly helps that everyone is taking on some part of that ridiculously long list of tasks necessary to pull off an event of this scope, thereby making each of our loads sustainable.  There is also a spirit of camaraderie, appreciation and humor that helps keep it all enjoyable.

I think it is fair to say that the shared sense of responsibility and action exemplified by the Louisville Earth Walk organizing partners mirrors the very approach we must all take (and which Earth Walk supports) if we are to create the healthy and sustainable city we all want for ourselves and future generations. 

As this year’s planning begins to come to a close, I’m thankful for this opportunity as well as for each of these power organizations and their representatives: it has been a blast.

The Earth Walk organizing partners are: 350 Louisville, Cultivating Connections, The Food Literacy Project, Greater Louisville Sierra Club, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Kentucky Conservation Committee, Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Louisville Climate Action Network, Louisville Grows, Louisville Nature Center, Louisville Sustainability Council, Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, Project Warm, and West Jefferson County Community Task Force.