Volunteers tackle community projects during LCRA Steps Forward Day

Activities included clearing brush from Gonzales park, painting in Waelder

LCRA employees clear brush in Gonzales during LCRA’s Steps Forward Day on April 1. During the annual day of service, employees worked on more than 30 community projects throughout the LCRA service territory.

Contributed

LCRA employee Matt Vinklarek paints a picnic table at the city park in Waelder during LCRA’s Steps Forward Day on April 1. During the annual day of service, employees worked on more than 30 community projects throughout the LCRA service territory.

Contributed

Posted Thursday, April 7, 2022 2:42 pm

Special to the Inquirer

More than 550 Lower Colorado River Authority employees left their regular jobs on Friday, April 1, to volunteer on a variety of community projects during LCRA’s annual day of service, Steps Forward Day.

In Gonzales County, the employees worked on two projects. In Gonzales, a group helped remove brush and trimmed tree limbs at Independence Park and East Avenue Park (Brickyard). A group in Waelder painted picnic tables and bleachers at the city park and repainted the Texas flag that decorates the city’s maintenance barn. City employees joined LCRA on both projects.

LCRA employees volunteered on almost three dozen projects in 31 communities during the special day. Projects ranged from rebuilding a sand volleyball court in San Angelo to painting restrooms at a Bastrop park to planting a drought-tolerant garden at the Horseshoe Bay City Hall to removing brush from trails at a Weimar park.

"This is a day we step forward to give back to our customer communities, and this year we have projects in more communities than we ever have,” said LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson. “It’s a great day for us to get together and have fun, to work hard and to support our communities.”
Wilson said through Steps Forward Day, LCRA can supply volunteers for projects that cities may not have the people, time or funds to complete on their own.

This year, Steps Forward Day included projects in Austin, Bastrop, Brenham, Burnet, Cottonwood Shores, Dale, Fredericksburg, Giddings, Goldthwaite, Gonzales, Hempstead, Horseshoe Bay, La Grange, Lago Vista, Lampasas, Lexington, Llano, Lockhart, Luling, Marble Falls, Martindale, Pflugerville, Round Rock, San Angelo, San Marcos, San Saba, Schulenburg, Shiner, Smithville, Waelder and Weimar.
LCRA launched its Steps Forward employee volunteer program in 2015 and has held a Steps Forward Day every year since, except for 2020 when the event had to be canceled because of the pandemic. LCRA works with its customers to identify service projects in their communities and supplies the labor and materials needed to complete the projects.

For more information, visit lcra.org/stepsforward.