Hi Readers!
My professional work experience project has ended, but my work in local government continues.
Through the Clean Communities Campaign (C3) project, I learned about community engagement, marketing, fundraising, and rallying and coordinating internal staff and the community toward a common goal. It was a wonderful experience to organize a hugely successful litter pickup and to see city staff and the community come together to make Albemarle a better place.
The original goal was for the city to start C3 and for a high school student or local civic group to take it on and continue this work in the community. Unfortunately, no one stepped up to do this, and the city can’t sustain the administrative and financial burden of event planning for the organization. This sounds like we failed, but I prefer to focus on what we made happen rather than what did not. To close out C3, the city is giving a grant, funded by Waste Management, to a city school for waste and recycling education. I am hopeful the goals and ideals of C3 will live on through this education.
I continue to work in finance at the City of Albemarle. It is audit season, and we are all working hard to get that unqualified opinion on the city’s financials. The city is launching a new and improved website, hiring a Main Street Manager to work in economic development, and will continue to provide excellent service to the citizens of Albemarle.
Albemarle is a great place to live, to visit, and to play. I encourage you to stop by some time!
Thank you for reading,
Lindsay H. Carter