When neighborhood resident Marci Novak realized the White Rock Lake bond package wouldn’t be used for lake clean-up and maintenance (only dredging), she took the lake’s trash into her own hands.

The first thing she and about 50 neighbors did was plan a fund-raising concert featuring folk-singer John McCutcheon. Organizers had only nine weeks to plan the event, Novak says.

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“It was totally grassroots,” Novak says. “None of the people organizing knew anything about putting on a concert or a fund-raiser.”

The concert raised $23,000, shocking its organizers, Novak says.

And that’s basically how the For The Love of the Lake nonprofit foundation came about, Novak says.

“If we would have known how big it became – then we would have turned and run,” Novak jokes.

Since its formation in 1995, the group has raised more than $125,000 for the lake and is responsible for a monthly shoreline clean-up, 400 new trash receptacles (including 40 three-can recycling stations), 24 new park benches with bike racks, seven wheelchair-accessible water fountains, six pairs of repainted bathrooms with original murals, the White Rock Express model train in the playground area, and a new 10-station outdoor fitness center.

“Our group is more of a what can we do today to make things more beautiful at the lake,” Novak says.

The foundation teamed up with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department to allow numerous clubs, groups and businesses throughout Dallas to sponsor one-third of a mile of shoreline by cleaning it up at least once a month. There are currently 30 groups sponsoring shoreline along the lake.

The turnout ranges anywhere from 100-300 people each time, depending greatly on the weather, Novak says.

For information about the foundation or the Second Saturday Shoreline Spruce-Up, call 622-SAVE.