The city of Washougal has selected Melanie Wilson, the founder of the East County Citizens Alliance, as its Rose M. Jewell Volunteer of the Year award winner for 2022.
Jewell, the city’s community engagement coordinator, presented Wilson with the award during a City Council meeting on June 26.
Wilson launched East County Citizens Alliance, an organization that endeavors to support and protect its community and public institutions through relationship-building, education, advocacy and volunteer initiatives that grow positive relationships and build a vibrant, healthy east Clark County, in 2021.
Since then, the group — composed mostly of Camas and Washougal residents — has initiated several projects, including multiple beautification campaigns along state Highway 14, a tutoring program at Washougal schools and a coordinated effort to support east Clark County’s food assistance organizations.
“I just want to say this is (award is for) the whole (East County Citizens Alliance) team, not just me,” Wilson said during the meeting. “I could not do any of this by myself.”
Wilson has also provided safety assistance at the city’s annual Christmas parade; serves as a “reading buddy” for Read Northwest, a Vancouver-based nonprofit organization that strives to elevate early childhood literacy in Southwest Washington; and volunteers at the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society.
“The recipient of this award looks for ways to enhance our community. The (winners) respond to the call for help. They step up when others step away,” Jewell said. “Melanie not only serves our community, but inspires and leads others to do the same. … I’ve enjoyed working with her on some (of the) projects. It’s been a pleasure.”
During the meeting, Wilson asked city leaders and council members for help in her group’s efforts to pick up trash from the sides of state Highway 14.
“I just wanted to ask for your help because we’re doing just about everything that we can do, and we need to (find out if) some other sectors of the community can help us,” she said.
Wilson said council members could help the group’s efforts by creating awareness campaigns to reinforce norms around littering; convincing local businesses to reduce roadside trash, such as labels on loads of lumber and single-use plastics; offering free dumping in city dumpsters; increasing enforcement and lobbying for a state beverage container bill.
Wilson and a small group of volunteers began removing litter from a section of the highway between the two Washougal roundabouts in February 2022, an outing that turned into a semi-regular occurrence. Eight months later, the group received Adopt-A-Highway status from the Washington Department of Transportation, which gave them traffic control equipment, safety equipment, safety training, litter bags and disposal services to use.
“The Adopt-a-Highway program will make it easier and cheaper for us to run this project,” Wilson told the Post-Record in May 2022.
As of June 2023, the group has collected more than 5,000 pounds of trash from state Highway 14 between Washougal and Camas. But now, the group is thinking about ways to treat the issue with a more proactive approach, according to Wilson.
