做一次拉尼尔湖畔的”清扫员” – 记明日之光“First Step” 团队
前言
2020年11月，美中下一代基金会明日之光公益奖平台正式成立并得到华人社区的积极响应。平台的职责之一是传播各个团队的事迹和经验，共大家学习，交流和参考。
9月25日，是Forsyth郡Lake Lanier每年一度的清里湖畔日（Lake Lanier Association’s annual shoreline cleanup)。 不少华人应召参战，包括美中下一代教育基金会的潘玲和舒静董事。基金会旗下的明日之光First Step团队更是不甘落后，有二十多人参加了这项活动。Forsyth郡的脸书还刊登了他们的照片。孩子们积极性非常高涨，回来还把这个经历用中英文记录下来。希望明年有更多的伙伴参加！
做一次拉尼尔湖畔的”清扫员”
作者：Rachel Li (Decatur 高中, 10年级)
9月25日，我来到了拉尼尔湖参加了岸边清扫行动。这是我第一次参加First Step团队的志愿者行动，也是由拉尼尔湖协会组织的一年一度的Shore Sweep活动的一部分。
我家离拉尼尔湖有近一个小时的车程，所以我和妈妈早早出发了。虽然时间很早，但是当我来到预定地点 Bald Ridge Marina时接待人员已经等候多时了。拉尼尔湖的湖面很广阔，湖边总是伴随着葱郁的树林，时而有游客驾驶船在湖面上行过。参加活动的人挺多，接待人员应接不暇。拉尼尔湖域很大，在集合地签到后再次开车大约15分钟后才到达被分配到的 Charleston Park拾取垃圾。
一路上我一直有一个疑问：为什么主办方要组织这次活动呢？其实我一直以为在这种自然环境下并不会有太多的垃圾，来到分配区域后情况貌似真的如我所想，草地上只有零星的细碎垃圾。然而后来同行的队员在树丛中发现了不少玻璃瓶以及塑料包装袋。原来并不是表面看到的没有垃圾，而是垃圾都十分隐蔽。有了这个发现后，比起志愿者拾取垃圾，场面一度更像是寻宝行动。为了这次活动我特地准备了垃圾捡拾器，这时候也派上了用场。经过大家的不懈努力每个人都从自然环境中找出不少垃圾。这个过程中我还发现了好多种蘑菇，有个蘑菇盖一碰就喷出烟雾状的孢子，很是有趣。
短短一个多小时大家就结束了”战斗”，清洁了湖岸，也结识了几位新朋友。第一次的经历很愉快，也让我非常期待以后可以参加更多的志愿者活动。
P.S. First Step 团队共有13位同学和11位家长参加了这次活动，最小的同学才6岁。大家在繁忙的生活中抽出时间，一起清洁环境，为社区服务，并在这个过程中享受阳光和友谊。每个人都说这是一个特别愉快的经历！如果您也想加入我们，请发邮件到：firststepteam2020@gmail.com
The first time as a volunteer in Lake Lanier shore sweep 2021
by Rachel Li (Decatur High School, 10th grade)
On September 25th, I came to Lake Lanier to participate in the annual Shore Sweep activity organized by the Lake Lanier Association. This is my first time to join the activity as a volunteer of the First Step team.
My home is about an hour’s drive from Lake Lanier, so my mother and I set off early. Although it was early, the reception staff had been waiting for a long time when we arrived at Bald Ridge Marina. There were a lot of people attending the event. The Lake Lanier area is very large with beautiful scenery. After checking in, we drove again for about 15 minutes to the assigned Charleston Park.
I have always had a question along the way: why did the Lake Lanier Association organize this event? In my mind, there would not be too much rubbish in this natural environment. At the beginning the situation seemed to be true, and for a while I saw very few scattered rubbish on the grass. However, a few team members found many glass bottles and plastic bags in the bushes. It turned out that most rubbish were hidden! With this discovery, the scene was more like a treasure hunt than picking up rubbish, and I found the grabber was a useful tool. During the search, I also found many kinds of mushrooms. One of the mushroom caps sprayed out smoke-like spores, which was very interesting.
In just over an hour, we ended the “battle”, cleaned the shore of the lake, and made some new friends. I had a great time today and really look forward to participating in more volunteer activities in the future.
