Eli Lilly Volunteers in Action

September 2025 — NepRWA hosted the Boston site for the Eli Lilly Company’s 18^th Global Day of Service, through which employees worldwide volunteer in their local communities.

In a torrential downpour, an intrepid group of 40 Lilly staff traded microscopes for trash grabbers, donned garbage bags, and—fueled by Dunkin’—cheerfully braved the wind and rain.  

Even as sheets of rain flooded the cleanup site, volunteers collected more than 100 bags of cans, bottles, needles, and debris at Pope John Paul II Park in Dorchester—trash that would have otherwise ended up in the 1300-acre Neponset River Estuary, an Area of Critical Environmental Concern that NepRWA helps steward. 

Undaunted, they navigated through tall phragmites along a flooded, serpentine river stone path to reach the work site near the bridge pilings of Interstate 93.

There, at the southwest corner of the DCR property, volunteers spread out into the marsh, up dirt slopes, under the trees and brush, and along grassy banks—cleaning an area long overdue for attention.

The group worked together to target and remove trash from the entire site within a few hours, moving diligently while taking in briny air and sweeping views. Click here for cleanup photos.

The area was heavily littered with beer cans and household trash thrown from the overpass onto the banks; locals have long used it for gathering and fishing, but its hidden location and steep terrain have made cleanups difficult.