As many of you know, FLRC sponsored two public porta-potties this year for runners, hikers, bikers, and other trail users, one on the Black Diamond Trail at Kraft Road and another near the Dryden Rail Trail trailhead in Freeville. They went in June 1 and will be waddling south for the winter on November 1, so keep that in mind for any runs you’re doing on those trails later in the year.
We’ve never done anything like this before, and we’ll soon be trying to figure out how to decide if it would be worth doing again next year. (One of our board members joked that any public service project that didn’t generate complaints was a smashing success.) So we’re curious what you think.
We suspect most people favor continuing next year—who would complain about the possibility of a free porta-potty in a time of need? But did you or anyone you know act differently this year because of them, perhaps picking the Black Diamond Trail or the Dryden Rail Trail for exercise because they were there?
The real issue, of course, is cost. The FLRC board was happy to allocate extra funds this year as a pilot project, but for next year, our Philanthropy Committee will have to decide if it’s worth devoting limited resources to porta-potties, potentially instead of some other worthy project involving youth running or trail maintenance.
We did encourage the community to share the cost. Big thanks to everyone who donated to help support our efforts! We’ve raised $333 so far, which is entirely welcome but only slightly more than the cost of one porta-potty for a month. You can still donate online through the end of the month.
Feel free to share any feedback here, or you can email me directly at president@fingerlakesrunners.org.
And if you’d like to join our Philanthropy Committee in 2024 to help direct our philanthropic giving for the year, let me know—anyone who’s a club member is welcome to participate!