The Butterfly Effect - Making Bird Houses!

February 2012 - The Butterfly Effect

Organizations: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Mattie Rhodes Center and A Simple House

The group at Mattie Rhodes Center showing off their new tree houses :)

In February our Burns and Mac team joined forces with three different non-profit organizations to stimulate creative young minds all across Kansas City.  We organized three separate work days in which volunteers met with kids at A Simple House, BBBS, and Mattie Rhodes to construct and decorate bird houses.  These activities not only showcased each child’s artistic talents, but provided an end product which kids could take home to engage with nature.

The houses lined up drying @ A Simple House

 

John helping a participant @ A Simple House

At each event, children were equipped with a wood birdhouse kit, a hammer, nails, glue, sandpaper, and paint.  We worked with a diverse age range of children so it was great to help younger kids hammer and glue pieces together and also let older kids take initiative in figuring out how all the bird house pieces fit together.  At first the bird house assembly seemed challenging to both kids and volunteers alike, but after a few pieces came together, it was all smooth sailing. 

 

 Painting, painting, painting @ Simple House

A Big paintently helping put the bird house together @ BBBS

Say CCHEESEEEE @ BBBS

@ BBBS

From a volunteer’s point of view, the most rewarding aspect of these activities was seeing kids glow with excitement as they triumphantly showed off their masterpieces upon completion.  One child enjoyed himself so much that he asked for an extra kit to bring home! 

A Big & Little @ BBBS

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Painting away @ BBBS

FOR MORE PICTURES, PLEASE VISIT OUR SHUTTERFLY WEBSITE @ bmprojectchange.shutterfly.com

Dykes Creek Clean-Up

March 2012 - Dykes Creek Clean-Up

Organization: Blue River Watershed Association

  

When looking at our beautiful earth, it doesn’t get much worse than looking at a polluted stream or waterway. A flowing stream is a symbol of life, and seeing trash all around it destroys that beautiful image. For several years the Burns & McDonnell Project Change Team has been joining forces with groups all over Kansas City to help bring about positive change. This time, all the Team had to do was look right outside their front door. Hundreds of Burns & McDonnell employees, and thousands of others, drive daily along littered Dykes Creek on their way down Ward Parkway. Eventually, the Burns & McDonnell employees had seen enough.

On Saturday March 10th, 2012 the Team gathered together to bush whack through the weeds and trees along the creek and get rid of all the trash. Fifteen volunteers got together on a beautiful Spring day and cleaned up 2 miles of stream bank along the creek, in just a couple of hours! Blue River Watershed Association was kind enough to donate all of the trash bags and gloves, while the Team provided the labor. BRWA also scheduled a trash pickup with the city on Monday so the bags wouldn’t sit around too long. Dozens of bags of trash were collected, and even recyclables were sorted out for pick up. The day was a great success and now Burns & McDonnell can look out their own office windows and see the good they’ve done for the community!

FOR MORE PICTURES, PLEASE VISIT OUR SHUTTERFLY WEBSITE @ bmprojectchange.shutterfly.com