December 2021 Newsletter
Tons of Love for our Stream Captains
Gunpowder Valley Conservancy (GVC) Stream Captains did themselves proud in 2021! After all of 2020's setbacks, volunteers from our Adopt-A-Stream program came out in force this year, monitoring the health of their stream segments, leading volunteers, and cleaning up trash from our waterways. Together, they rallied 360 volunteers who pulled over 6 tons of trash from our streams.

Their efforts this year when combined with those from 2020 surpassed all of our two-year goals for adoptions and stream clean-up metrics!

In 2021, we welcomed 8 new Stream Captains who have signed up to monitor 9 stream segments in the Gunpowder watershed. We are humbled by their service and eager to reach even farther in the future. Darcy Herman, the Adopt-A-Stream program coordinator, notes that several veteran Captains reported finding much less trash in their streams this year than in previous ones, which is an inspiration to keep up the great work and underscores the value of a long-term commitment to stream adoption. Thank you, Stream Captains!
GIVE-ing back to the Gunpowder
Earlier this year, GVC was selected by Business Volunteers Maryland to take part in a 16 week program, the GIVE Advisory Project. GIVE "empowers rising professionals with resources, tools, and connection to strengthen communities. with communities." Team GVC consisted of 5 GIVE Fellows who worked as a group to creatively apply their community engagement and collaborative leadership skills to assist GVC with a specific challenge.


In true 2021 fashion, their final project was a hybrid workshop attended by GVC staff and board members in person and virtually. The workshop was an "Introduction to Change Management" and based upon numerous one-on-one interviews with GVC's inner circle. They identified our organization's strengths and weaknesses, and provided us with a new skill set to make more efficient decisions as we continue to grow.

We look forward to using our new skills as we kick off our 33rd year! We're also excited to see how Natalie, Kim, Nicholas, Jacy, and Cristian will continue applying their talents within Baltimore communities. To our benefit, we are thrilled to announce that Nicholas was recently invited to join GVC's Governance Committee as an advisor. Keep up the good work, Team GVC!
DOUBLE Your Support of Clean Water
Thanks to your generosity we are over halfway to our goal of raising $10,000 to unlock matching funds from our angel donor. There's still time to double your support of GVC's vision of a Gunpowder watershed with healthy lands, healthy waterways, and healthy communities.

Can you help us raise an additional $3,000 this month? Any size donation will greatly help!
Give a meaningful gift this holiday season! GVC is excited to share several creative ways you can support your local land trust and watershed restoration non-profit.
Share the beauty of the Gunpowder Watershed and support local artist, Mary Magenta. Her 2022 Watershed Moments calendars and note cards are available for sale online. Mary will make a donation to GVC with each purchase.
When you make a tax-deductible donation to GVC's Friends of the Forest, you are directly supporting our work of expanding native forest and wildlife habitat within the Gunpowder Watershed.
  • $25 will nurture one tree
  • $100 will nurture a grove
  • $250 will nurture a forest

In return, we will send you a commemorative certificate to acknowledge your support. A perfect gift to celebrate people in your life who appreciate the beauty of the Gunpowder Falls and the Chesapeake Bay and/or are environmental stewards in their own community.
Keep exploring local trails in 2022 in our sustainable Explore the Gunpowder Watershed challenge t-shirts! Each shirt features recreation icons and the outline of the Gunpowder Watershed and its main rivers. The shirts are made by Recover, a sustainable apparel company, out of a 50/50 cotton poly yarn from recycled plastic bottles and upcycled cotton.

We are excited to offer our remaining 2021 Explore the Gunpowder Watershed challenge t-shirts for a $20 donation to the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy. Let others know that YOU support land preservation and clean water in Maryland. Our remaining inventory will be updated on the order form for women's (dark green, v-cut) and men's (light green) shirts.
Thanks to our GVC 2021 Sponsors