Walmart Store 5883 volunteers answer the call

Last Friday, our native plants at the Stateline access site were the happy beneficiaries of Walmart’s “Women in Retail Leadership Program.” Twelve volunteers form the Walmart recently built by the Fairgrounds on Sprague joined Jasmine Loupe of the Spokane Conservation District. Their mission: to water over 550 native species along 800 feet of shoreline.

Leading the Walmart volunteers was Karen Kissack, a Liberty Lake resident and avid river-floater. Said Kissack, “Right now I have twenty tubes in my garage. It’s just a great time. We get a group of friends and family, put-in at Harvard Road, then come back to my place for a big barbeque.”

Kissack said the facilities, parking and riparian area at Harvard Road are always in excellent condition. That’s largely due to a comprehensive restoration project the Department of Ecology led in 2008 that Riverside State Park continues to maintain. Six years later the same recipe for success is being used by the Spokane Conservation District and Riverside State Park at Stateline.

Kissack said her fellow volunteers noticed the improvement at State Line. With the new designated parking zone, the protected riparian area is already coming to life.

Moving forward Kissack said, “The Walmart 5883 WIR Team are looking forward to building a long term relationship with the Spokane River Forum and anxious to support future events.”