City of Rochester
News Release
(Friday, May 12, 2017) – Mayor Lovely Warren honored two local schools at City Hall today for their winning rain barrel designs at the culminating celebration of the Flour City Blooms Rain Barrel Competition hosted by the City of Rochester and The Coca-Cola Company.
The newly-designed barrels —formerly syrup concentrate drums— were donated by The Coca-Cola Company’s local distribution center and converted to collect and reuse rain water. In an effort to highlight the importance of water retention and reuse, Coca-Cola has donated tens of thousands of the drums to communities across the country since 2008. This is the second year that Rochester has participated in the challenge, coordinated by Pamela Reese-Smith, Administrator of the City’s Northeast Neighborhood Service Center.
“These rain barrels are not only beautiful works of art, they’re functional and beneficial to our community gardens and add beauty and vitality to Rochester’s neighborhoods” said Mayor Warren. “The Flour City Blooms project is the perfect way to celebrate inspiring young people into action and highlighting the importance of water retention and reuse of one of our most precious resources. I’m thankful to our partners at The Coca-Cola Company for making this investment in Rochester that bolsters our efforts to create safer more vibrant neighborhoods, more jobs for our citizens and better educational opportunities for our children.”
“Water stewardship is important to The Coca-Cola Company and we are proud to partner with Mayor Warren’s office on this rain barrel initiative,” said John Kelly, Manager of The Coca-Cola Company’s Rochester Distribution Center. “This is a fun way for us to do our part in promoting a sustainable Rochester, which is also where many of our associates live and work.”
The Flour City Blooms Rain Barrel Competition winners are:
• Young Mothers & Interim Health Academy, Teacher: Laura Schauman Frey
• Visual Arts, Rochester School For The Deaf, Teacher: David Prusinski
The finalists received cash prizes from The Coca Cola Company to be used for a project of their choice. Rain Barrels will be donated to Community Gardens in the city of Rochester.
Residents are invited to participate in free rain barrel building workshops on Saturday May 20 or Saturday June 10 at the Rochester Urban Agriculture Garden and Training Center located at the City’s Northeast Neighborhood Service Center, 500 Norton St. Pre-registration is required, call 428-7660.
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News Media: For more information, contact Press Officer Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135.