Earth Day Celebration Cancelled, Service Sites Postponed.

To all our friends and neighbors:

It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that this year’s Earth Day Celebration scheduled for Saturday, April 25, has been canceled in accordance with new guidance from public health officials on large public gatherings. The annual downtown festival, featuring live music and vendors, typically caps off Earth Day Columbus’ run of volunteer service sites. This year’s celebration was scheduled to take place on the Scioto Mile and was expected to attract more than 10,000 attendees. Earth Day Columbus service sites are postponed and will be rescheduled to happen at a later time once the public health situation changes again.

All of us at Green Columbus have been keeping a close eye on announcements from state and local health officials related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus). With cases of community spread now confirmed in Ohio and with increasingly strict guidance being issued on large public gatherings (including Governor DeWine’s order limiting mass gatherings of 100 people or more), our board unanimously decided on March 12 that the health and safety of our community had to come first. It was a necessary but difficult choice.

In the 14 years since its founding, Earth Day Columbus has always had a celebration to mark the success of our volunteer-led service sites across central Ohio. The festival has always been a chance to gather with our green community, unwind, and toast to a job well done. But this year is different, and we made the toughest call we’ve had to make since we started Earth Day Columbus in 2007. We know our community is disappointed, but we’re going to continue to identify safe ways of making a difference.

Green Columbus will continue to support Earth Day Columbus service sites to take place across central Ohio until the end of October after the work at home order gets lifted. We are working closely with all service site hosts to provide meaningful and safe litter pickups and beautification projects then. We are currently continuing to support tree plantings with our professional partners and provide mulch and topsoil for our much needed community gardens.

As of know, we anticipate future service sites to have fewer than 50 volunteers and be held in unconfined, outdoor spaces. Most service sites will have 20 volunteers or fewer, allowing participants to keep the recommended social distance of six feet from one another at all times. In collaboration with Keep Columbus Beautiful, all tools will be sanitized before they are picked up. Gloves will be professionally washed after each use. According to the latest from public health experts, these sites should be OK to proceed. If that changes, we’ll let everyone know when we do.

Our organizers are taking all our cues from the experts at the Ohio Department of Health, Franklin County Public Health, and Columbus Public Health. The situation is changing daily, and our staff will communicate updates. If new public health recommendations change our plans, we’ll communicate directly to all service site hosts. You’ll also hear it via our website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. If there are case-by-case cancellations at the discretion of site hosts, all volunteers will get timely updates.

If anyone still feels uneasy about participating once the order gets lifted, we completely understand. We’d love to see everyone turn out in the same spirit of volunteerism that has driven us for years, but—again—the health and safety of our volunteers always come first. If you’re nervous, it’s OK to sit out. As always, if you’re sick (even if it’s just seasonal sniffles), please stay home. For resources and guidance from the Ohio Department of Health, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov.

We also want to stress that our concerns regarding COVID-19 won’t change our commitment to central Ohio going forward. If it turns out that public health concerns limit our chances to do good this spring, we’ll actively look for ways to reschedule service sites and/or explore new opportunities for green volunteering throughout 2020.

In closing, thank you for being part of our amazing community. Earth Day Columbus wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the thousands of volunteers, community and business leaders, and site hosts who are willing to pitch in to make our city a little greener. We hope to see you out at neighborhood service sites in late spring, summer and fall this year. As for our celebration, we’ll be back in April 2021 with one that’s bigger, louder, and better than ever!

Sincerely Yours,

Rebecca Mellino, Board President

Claus Eckert, Executive Director

Media Contact:

Allison Bowers

614-420-5985

allison@allisonmbowers.com