National Day of Service Clean Up Day with RiverLink and Buncombe 250

A community volunteer event to clean up and maintain Karen Cragnolin Park.

Join RiverLink for a "National Day of Service" clean-up day, held in partnership with America 250 NC Buncombe County. Together, we will promote the environmental and economic vitality of the French Broad River and its watershed as a place to live, learn, work, and play. About the Clean Up: Karen Cragnolin Park (KCP) was purchased as a long-standing auto-crushing junkyard in 2006. For almost two decades, RiverLink invested in the property by removing concrete, healing the polluted soil, and managing invasive plants. In 2023 we connected the paved greenway path to the parks on each side and opened these five acres as a public park---one that showcases its context in nature and cultural history, tells its story of remediation, and honors RiverLink’s founder, Karen Cragnolin. Designed with flood resilience in mind, KCP performed beautifully during Hurricane Helene despite being under some 20 feet of moving water. We continue to invest in the park’s resilience by caring for the native pollinator meadow in partnership with Patchwork Meadows, enhancing our riparian area, and creating an aesthetically pleasing, educational, climate resilient public park for the community to enjoy. For this event, we will continue this work by managing the non-native invasive plant species in the meadow and supporting newly planted trees and shrubs along the river bank. Expect light to moderate gardening work (weeding, mulching, watering). How to be Prepared: RiverLink will provide all necessary tools and equipment. Closed-toed shoes are required and pants are recommended. We also recommend everyone bring a water bottle and gardening gloves if you have them, but gloves will be provided if needed. Follow the link below to sign up for the clean up! https://riverlink.salsalabs.org/dayofservice/index.html We look forward to seeing you there!