New Jersey Future Partners with the New Jersey District of Key Club International

October 14th, 2020 by New Jersey Future staff

New Jersey Future is excited to announce a new partnership with the New Jersey District of Key Club International and the District Project Steering Committee for the group’s service year project “Keeping the Garden State Green.”

The New Jersey Key Club District reviewed environmental organizations around the world and selected New Jersey Future as one of three partner organizations for its environment-driven project. Key Club is an international, student-led organization that provides its members with opportunities to perform service, build character, and develop leadership. In New Jersey, there are over 140 high school Key Clubs, with over 12,000 student members.

During the 2020-2021 academic service year, all Key Club members in New Jersey will be supporting service projects related to the District’s “Keeping the Garden State Green” initiative. Students from every county in the state will focus on projects and events related to environmental awareness and education, devoting substantial time and effort to supporting the well-being of the planet and making a positive impact on the environment.

The New Jersey Key Club held a virtual student rally on Sunday, October 11 to kick off the new service year and District project. As a partner organization, New Jersey Future was invited to participate, and created a video shown during the rally about our work to mainstream green infrastructure, featuring Stormwater Director Kandyce Perry and Policy and Program Coordinator Andrew Tabas.

The educational video teaches about the problems of stormwater runoff, which has been greatly exacerbated in our region as heavy rain events have increased by more than 70%in the last 50 years. The video explains the benefits of using green infrastructure to manage stormwater and provides examples of specific actions students can take to help address stormwater problems in their communities, such as installing rain barrels and rain gardens at their homes and schools.

New Jersey Future is looking forward to working with the New Jersey Key Club this year in its efforts to keep New Jersey green. We’ve asked these young environmental leaders to tell us their stories about working with green infrastructure as part of their service project this year and we are looking forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned!