SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – After the festivities of Independence Day, Clean Up The Lake and Station House Inn announced their partnership through the Stay With Purpose program. The fund raised over $30,000 for the organization to continue their work.
“Clean Up The Lake has a real tangible impact pulling out trash from the lake,” said Mitchell Murray, CEO of PlayPark Hospitality, which owns Station House Inn. “We think they do a really great job and are excited to support them in preserving the lake we all love.”
The Stay With Purpose program came about as part of founder Daniel Ramsey’s interest in giving back to communities through MOD Movement. Station House Inn piloted the program last year, raising about $1,000.
This year, they renewed the program again with a larger output. The program now earmarks $4 per every guest stay to give to nonprofits and organizations throughout the Tahoe region. The first funds went to the Boys and Girls Club of South Lake Tahoe, totaling about $10,000.
For Clean Up The Lake, Stay With Purpose raised $30,144 for Clean Up The Lake. The hope for the program is to partner with a different organization each quarter.
“This money will allow us to continue making the difference we really want to,” said Colin West, CEO of Clean Up The Lake. “We’re really excited to help them launch this off, especially for one of the busiest times of the year.”
West spoke to the cleanup volunteers, including the dive team who would be cleaning up just south of the fireworks barge near Nevada Beach. “You can see there’s a post-party trash scene out there. But we think this is an opportunity to turn the tide and show that through the Stay With Purpose program, tourists aren’t just a problem, they can be part of the solution.”
Volunteers on the street took 40-gallon trash bags to pick up beer cans, lost flip-flops, wrappers and cigarette butts, while the dive team headed out to their site (with a caution to not handle any fireworks in the lake that still contained explosives.)
“I traveled a lot, going to places like Bali and Thailand which have a lot of trash,” said West. “Tahoe on the surface might not seem like that, but literally and figuratively, we also are dealing with these issues.”
“It’s important to have that preservation and education, especially for our youth and the future who will be taking care of this place when we’re old and decrepit,” said West with a laugh. “Most importantly, I believe Tahoe still can be saved.”
