When Hammond Middle School teacher Nancy Bort took her class to Holmes Run last year for a science project, Bort had all the elements of a program developed by Capital Region Earth Force as guidelines for the student project. Her students started working on cleaning the creek, paying attention to the role Holmes Run plays in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and came up with a plan to highlight existing trash cans with paint. If the trash cans stand out a little more, hopefully more people will use them, the students thought.

They were enthused, especially the trash painting group, Bort said at a ceremony Monday, Aug. 13, introducing State Farm Insurance as a partner. State Farm presented Earth Force with a check for $5,122 and became a partner in the project. Bort read a speech by one of her students who took part in the Holmes Run clean up. We came up with a solution, colorful eye-catching trash cans, we have a chance to do something now, the speech said. The trash can painting project was also supported by Staples Office Products, and was submitted to Mayor William Euille and City Council Vice Mayor Del Pepper for final approval.

Program expansion
The Holmes Run Watershed program even made the front page of Earth Forces publication The Watershed Staple. The article was a compilation of all the students experiences with the Earth Force projects.

The additional funding from State Farm allows Earth Force to expand their science programs for school called the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN). We help bring in the watershed studies, said Jen McDonnell, the executive director at the Capital Region Earth Force.