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NJCCC Honors Donna Macalle-Holly with the
“2024 Clean Waterways Award”
Program Director Coordinated Massive Litter Clean-Up at Lake Hopatcong
LAKE HOPATCONG – April 30, 2024 – The New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC), a statewide, comprehensive, litter-abatement program, has awarded this year’s “Clean Waterways Award” to the Lake Hopatcong Foundation Grants and Program Director.
NJCCC Executive Director JoAnn Gemenden presented the award to Donna Macalle-Holly last month during the second-annual New Jersey Sustainability in Motion Conference in Atlantic City, which attracted hundreds of attendees from across the state.
Macalle-Holly coordinated the “Lake Wide Community Cleanup” on November 4, an event organized by the Lake Hopatcong Foundation (LHF) and the Lake Hopatcong Commission. The lake-wide cleanup is timed with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s five-foot drawdown of the lake, which takes place every five years.
The Lake Hopatcong Foundation was founded in 2012. Macalle-Holly has coordinated all of the Lake Wide Community Cleanups, in 2013, 2018 and 2023.
Last year, there were 50 cleanup crews comprised of nearly 600 volunteers. Using 50 access points to the lake, volunteers removed 28,000 pounds of trash, including an astonishing 900 tires.
Coordination is critical. Macalle-Holly works with four municipalities that border the lake: Hopatcong, Jefferson Township, Mount Arlington, and Roxbury Township, as well as many other stakeholders and volunteers.
Disposal of the debris was also a challenge. Local DPW crews were brought in; Hopatcong provided a Dumpster for the collected litter. And Macalle-Holly coordinated it all.
Gemenden said community outreach and media coverage prior to the event was vital, as press releases, flyers, electronic signage, a photo contest and social media all played a role. Learn more at lakehopatcongfoundation.org.
Learn more at NJClean.org or LitterFreeNJ.com