Kitty Sachs has been hired as community rain garden coordinator, a new position the staff of the Boxerwood Education Association. The three-year part-time position was made possible by a privately funded grant to help launch a rain garden initiative in the Rockbridge community.

"We are delighted to have Kitty Sachs fill the position, said Hunter Mohring, BEA executive steward.  “Kitty ha played a significant roll in our efforts for a year and a half now."

She coordinated Woods Creek Restoration Day for the past two years, compiled and edited 'Rain Gardens, A How-to-Manual for Homeowners for the city of Lexington and Boxerwood and developed a Power Point presentation regarding stormwater and raingardens.  Her participation and experience has made her exceptionally prepared and valuable to the new initiative.”

The initiative was developed by BEA to expand on projects begun in partnership with the city of Lexington to inspire and educate homeowners in how and why to install rain gardens as a sustainable alternative residential stormwater management practice.

The initiative's primary goals include raising community awareness of the role that household storm-water runoff plays in the deterioration of streams and rivers and promoting residential rain gardens as a proven step toward preventing the watershed as well as the groundwater to a healthy condition.

"Clean water is rapidly becoming a major issue all around the globe," noted Mohring, "and we are convinced that anything we as individuals and a community can learn to do to preserve and promote our local resources will be rewarded in the future."

In the past year, Boxerwood has installed two rain gardens into its nature center landscape, facilitated rain garden workshops for homeowners and landscape professionals, directed the planning of five model residential rain gardens funded by Lexington city grant sources and Rockbridge County, and assisted with planning and planting of the new community rain garden in Woods Creek Park.

The community rain garden coordinator will organize, promote and participate in the installation of multiple residential rain gardens through-out the community; seek additional grant funding to subsidize rain garden projects; and devise systems for demonstrating improved environmental conditions resulting from adoption of better storm-water management practices.