Team WAVE (Willing Active Volunteers for the Environment) was organized to support the city of Arnolds Park in its beautification efforts following the reconstruction and widening of Highway 71. Since 1998 community volunteer members of Team WAVE have planted and maintained extensive plantings of native Iowa shrubs, trees and flowering plants along Broadway Street and at the entrance to the Arnolds Park Amusement Park.
Team WAVE is a result of the city’s participation in Iowa’s Living Roadways ISTEA Visioning Program in 1996. Team WAVE’s 25 volunteers have planted more than 107 trees, 275 shrubs and more than 2,200 perennials. Annual work days are planned each spring and fall.
Funding for Team WAVE has come from grants totaling $82,500. Major funding partners for Team WAVE projects include Alliant Energy, Aquila and Iowa’s Living Roadways Trust Fund. In kind donations total $10,000. More than 2,900 volunteer hours have been devoted to designing projects, planting and maintaining beds, fundraising, grant writing and administrative work. Additionally Team WAVE members hold an annual fundraising event each summer.
Team WAVE is a non-profit organization dependent on grants and financial contributions from the public. These vital contributions are used to purchase needed plants, supplies, and to match grant funds. Team WAVE needs your help.
