CARTER LAKE - An estimated 150 volunteers will converge on Carter Lake, Sept. 17, to help improve the lake as part of a volunteer cleanup effort.

Carter Lake, near Omaha, Neb., has suffered from dumping and dangerously low water levels for years, said Steve Wilbur, President of Shoals Homeowners Association, one of the effort's sponsors. Saturday's cleanup will be the first step towards restoring the lake, he said.

Volunteers are invited to remove refuse from the lake and help with other cleanup needs. The event begins at 8 a.m. at Mayberry Park (1701 Willow Dr., Carter Lake, Iowa).

Participants can join 4-hour shifts either in the morning or evening (or both). Volunteers will form 5 to 6 member teams that will then walk the lake's shores and load garbage onto canoes and flat-bottomed boats. Jet skis will then tow the boats to various collection points. Organizers also need volunteers to help sort trash after the event.

Carter Lake cleanup organizers will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to participants and will provide canoes, trash bags and rubber gloves. Volunteers should wear leather gloves if they have them, appropriate clothing and sturdy, closed end shoes. The workday will conclude with entertainment and a prize drawing - including hotel stays, meals and golf passes donated by local businesses.

Area homeowners associations and other groups organized the cleanup, with the help of the Iowa DNR's Keepers of the Land volunteer program. Keepers of the Land provided consultation and technical assistance with waste management, volunteer recruitment and recognition, sponsorship and publicity. The volunteer program offers similar help to other efforts statewide.

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