Boat Racks for Starkweather Creek!
Tax deductible
The Friends of Starkweather Creek are raising funds for a publicly accessible canoe rack near the Olbrich Playfields at the outlet of the creek! The racks will be built and maintained by City of Madison Parks Department. Some of the twelve racks will be dedicated to canoe storage for Friends canoe tours and clean up events. The rest will be available for rental from the public. Please help us meet our goal of $800.
How the racks will help
The Friends of Starkweather Creek lead events on the creek each year, including free public tours, creek cleanups, and a kids camp in partnership with Goodman Community Center. We currently rely on the generosity of boat rental companies and volunteered labor to haul canoes to the public boat launch.
The City of Madison Parks Department has arranged to build and install a rack at the boat launch near the Olbrich Playfield, in exchange for a reduced donation. This means that we won't have to limit tours based on the availability of canoe trailers or rented equipment. Racks will greatly reduce the labor involved in hosting tours, allowing us to host events more regularly. Thanks to the partnership with Goodman, having a canoe rack would help us get kids out onto the creek. It's a win-win!
Where the money will go
$500 will go towards the boat rack (reduced from $1,000). $300 will go towards Friends of Starkweather Creek rental costs (also 50% discounted) for the first year.
If we raise more than our goal, funds could go towards life jackets, paddles, equipment storage, as well as towards making this program sustainable for future years.
Help the Friends of Starkweather Creek get more people on the Creek!
About Starkweather Creek
Starkweather Creek is a hidden urban creek in Madison, WI. The Starkweather Creek watershed covers 23.9 square miles, or 15,300 acres, and is the largest in the City of Madison! Starkweather Creek has two branches, the east and west branch. The west branch runs under East Washington Avenue and extends to the Dane County Airport. The shorter east branch runs past the Voight Quarry property and is fed by clear water springs.
The Starkweather watershed includes parts of the Towns of Madison, Burke & Blooming Grove. It drains into Lake Monona. The watershed was created by the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age, and likely evolved into prime oak savannah uplands with extensive wetlands. Starting in 1911 & 1922, large sections of the creeks were channeled, straightened, and dredged for farming, industrial, commercial, and eventual residential purposes.
About the Friends of Starkweather Creek
The Friends of Starkweather Creek, formally established in 2003, is a citizen’s group dedicated to the enhancement of the watershed’s environmental quality. We seek to raise public awareness and appreciation of the creek through education and outreach to watershed residents, businesses and landowners and we will serve as advocates for sound watershed planning and management practices.
The mission of the Friends of Starkweather Creek is to work for a healthy urban stream and to benefit the community through stewardship, education, and advocacy.
How the racks will help
The Friends of Starkweather Creek lead events on the creek each year, including free public tours, creek cleanups, and a kids camp in partnership with Goodman Community Center. We currently rely on the generosity of boat rental companies and volunteered labor to haul canoes to the public boat launch.
The City of Madison Parks Department has arranged to build and install a rack at the boat launch near the Olbrich Playfield, in exchange for a reduced donation. This means that we won't have to limit tours based on the availability of canoe trailers or rented equipment. Racks will greatly reduce the labor involved in hosting tours, allowing us to host events more regularly. Thanks to the partnership with Goodman, having a canoe rack would help us get kids out onto the creek. It's a win-win!
Where the money will go
$500 will go towards the boat rack (reduced from $1,000). $300 will go towards Friends of Starkweather Creek rental costs (also 50% discounted) for the first year.
If we raise more than our goal, funds could go towards life jackets, paddles, equipment storage, as well as towards making this program sustainable for future years.
Help the Friends of Starkweather Creek get more people on the Creek!
About Starkweather Creek
Starkweather Creek is a hidden urban creek in Madison, WI. The Starkweather Creek watershed covers 23.9 square miles, or 15,300 acres, and is the largest in the City of Madison! Starkweather Creek has two branches, the east and west branch. The west branch runs under East Washington Avenue and extends to the Dane County Airport. The shorter east branch runs past the Voight Quarry property and is fed by clear water springs.
The Starkweather watershed includes parts of the Towns of Madison, Burke & Blooming Grove. It drains into Lake Monona. The watershed was created by the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age, and likely evolved into prime oak savannah uplands with extensive wetlands. Starting in 1911 & 1922, large sections of the creeks were channeled, straightened, and dredged for farming, industrial, commercial, and eventual residential purposes.
About the Friends of Starkweather Creek
The Friends of Starkweather Creek, formally established in 2003, is a citizen’s group dedicated to the enhancement of the watershed’s environmental quality. We seek to raise public awareness and appreciation of the creek through education and outreach to watershed residents, businesses and landowners and we will serve as advocates for sound watershed planning and management practices.
The mission of the Friends of Starkweather Creek is to work for a healthy urban stream and to benefit the community through stewardship, education, and advocacy.
Organizer
Friends of Starkweather Creek
Organizer
Madison, WI
Friends of Starkweather Creek Inc
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
