The North Carolina Coastal Federation led activities on stormwater runoff at the 2017 Latino Festival at Wilmington’s Ogden Park on Nov. 11.

With the help of many of Spanish-speaking volunteers, the federation used a stormwater model to educate festival goers about stormwater runoff and the many sources of pollutants that are found in runoff. The stormwater model simulates the movement of and sources of polluted runoff as it moves through a watershed before draining into waterways.

Conery said that the federation’s participation in this year’s festival was a huge success thanks to the help of Spanish-speaking federation volunteers who helped at the event.

“We had entire families helping us communicate our message,” said Kate Conery, AmeriCorps member with the federation’s Wrightsville Beach office. “The children were especially helpful in engaging the festival goers by giving the stormwater model demonstrations on their own. They were able to capture the attention of the festival goers in a fun, educational way.”

Check out pictures from the event below. For upcoming volunteer events, visit nccoast.org/events.