By Lauren Puckett
On Saturday, June 18, NoDa’s Greenification Committee teamed up with Will Puckett to clean up the embankments and surrounding areas of the Matheson Bridge. Over 35 volunteers logged almost 100 volunteer
hours and cleared so much overgrowth, trash and debris that the piles stretched down Charles Avenue from N. Davidson all the way to Clemson.

The turnout was unlike anything the Greenification Committee, or the Pucketts themselves, had ever witnessed.

Volunteers included the usual Greenification regulars along with neighbors from Villa Heights. The No. 7 Firemen joined in the fun after seeing a flyer posted along N. Davidson about the event. They pressure washed the embankments and even let folks take turns spraying the fire hose. Even Aisha Alexander, head of the City of Charlotte Neighborhood Matching Grants program, which awarded NoDa a $25,000 grant towards
the project, came out to volunteer and support the cause.

Both the turnout and final product exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations. Neighbors came ready to work, with rakes, shovels, trucks and power tools. NoDa’s own Phillip Ingold secured the donation of a backhoe from Neff Rentals for the weekend and spent Friday evening before the event and Saturday clearing brush and ripping down dying trees. For anyone who came and worked, or witnessed the event unfold, it was truly an accurate representation of the greatness of NoDa.