Our second Partner Profile of 2020 belongs to Mr. Randy Nissen. Read on for some background on the driving force behind one of our larger Clean Your Streams groups!

Randy has his roots in the Toledo area, as he was born here prior to spending his youth in New York. He attended Ohio State University, where he earned a teaching degree that he has put to use for the past 34 years. Randy’s specialized subjects are social studies and history; he began teaching in the Toledo at Woodward High School, but has spent the last 15 years at the Toledo Early College High School (TECHS). It is at TECHS that Randy first became involved with Partners for Clean Streams.

Randy says that a flyer advertising Clean Your Streams (CYS) Day caught his eye while walking through the UT campus. As TECHS students are required to complete a series of community service hours each semester (6 hours/semester), Randy saw the opportunity to connect his students with CYS. The TECHS community service group has been participating in CYS for almost a decade, and usually have one of biggest groups at the event. TECHS’ group was 141 individuals strong at the 2019 CYS (composed of students and their family members). This year, TECHS had their own kickoff location, with the group spanning out to clean 3 separate sites!

Randy has engaged TECHS students in other volunteer opportunities throughout the years as well, including Global Youth Service day, UT’s Big Event, UT Litter Bug, food drives, etc. When asked about the students’ willingness and excitement to participate in service events, Randy stated that even if the TECHS service hour requirement was not in place, he believes that his students would still turn out for these events and that he enjoys working with this great group.

Post-retirement, Randy is certain that he will have not have trouble filling his time. On his docket is travel (Slovenia is top of the list), cycling, wood-working, and reading. And finally, when asked if he envisioned TECHS continuing to participate in CYS after his retirement, Randy gave a strong “YES”. We appreciate the work that volunteers like Randy do to introduce youth to environmental stewardship; thank you!

Partners for Clean Streams does more than may meet the eye! In addition to our more visible programs (e.g., Clean Your Streams, Get the Lead Out, etc.), we also act as the facilitating organization for the Maumee Area of Concern Advisory Committee (MAAC website). Our role in this group is to help bring many organizations and ideas to the table to enable restoration of the waterways that span an area from Toledo, to Oak Harbor, to Bowling Green, and all the places in between!

Organizations involved in the MAAC include Ohio EPA and other governmental agencies, non-profit groups, parks districts & preserves, consulting firms, and private citizens. The MAAC is always looking for interested individuals to join us, but we are in particular need of additional citizen members. If you are interested in joining this work, please contact PCS by calling our office (419 874-0727) or emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The work of the MAAC and has been and continues to be a staged approach, with individuals and organizations working together to promote fishable, swimmable, and drinkable waters within the Greater-Toledo area since the late 1980s. The three primary stages of work, in sequential order, are Stage 1: Identification of environmental problems and sources (completed in 1992), Stage 2: Elimination of the pollution source to improve water quality (currently in progress), and Stage 3: Protection of the improved location (currently in progress). Stages 2 and 3 are dynamic and can be very exciting; please be sure to tune in to MAAC social media platforms for process and project updates as we move through 2020!

• MAAC Facebook: link
• MAAC Twitter: link

For the fifth year running, Partners for Clean Streams (PCS) will lead the “Green Team” at the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon in April.  PCS and volunteers help make the marathon as sustainable as possible through reducing supply waste and diverting thousands of pounds of recyclable materials from a lifetime in a landfill.  Last year, the Green Team recycled almost 3,000 pounds of cardboard, glass, aluminum, plastic, heat sheets, Gu packs, and more!  We are looking for volunteers to help us in our Green Team efforts.  We have three shifts to fill: 

• Saturday, April 25^th from 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
• Sunday, April 26^th from 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
• Sunday, April 26^th from 11:00 AM – 2:30PM

Volunteers will be working in the Glass Bowl Stadium and Lot 10, encouraging recycling during the post-race party.  All volunteers will receive a free Glass City Marathon t-shirt. If you are interested in doing something positive for the planet during Earth Month, the Green Team is a great opportunity for you to make a tangible difference.  You can sign up through Glass City Marathon’s volunteer website and search for Green Team. You can also sign up by contacting PCS and we will be happy to register you or your group. If you can’t make it to the marathon, please consider supporting us as a charity partner through a donation. At PCS, we promote healthy runners and healthy rivers!