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Volunteer Locally

• As  high school students in Cincinnati, Ohio, we were eager to get involved in local efforts to support SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation. We reached out to several community organizations in the Forest Park area, hoping to find opportunities to volunteer our time and make a real difference.

• Unfortunately, our search was not as fruitful as we had hoped. While there are many wonderful environmental groups and initiatives in the greater Cincinnati region, we struggled to find ones that were specifically focused on water-related issues within our local community. The Ohio River Valley Water Commission, for example, is based further north and their volunteer activities seemed to be centered more around the main stem of the Ohio River, rather than the smaller tributaries and waterways closer to my neighborhood.

• We continued the search, reaching out to local environmental nonprofits, park departments, and even my school district to see if there were any water-focused initiatives I could get involved with. While I was able to find some general environmental volunteering opportunities, such as campus clean-ups and tree plantings, I struggled to identify ways to directly contribute to SDG 6 goals within my immediate community.

• Despite these obstacles, we remain committed to finding ways to make a positive impact on water issues in our local area. We plan to keep networking, researching, and reaching out to see if there are any emerging projects or initiatives, we can lend our time and talents to. In the meantime, we'll continue educating our minds and our peers about the importance of clean water and sanitation access and exploring other avenues to advocate for change and support this critical Sustainable Development Goal.