We recently connected with Don Gaston and have shared our conversation below.

Don, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

One day while fishing on the western shore of Lake Lewisville in North Dallas TX and shortly after moving to the area from California, I couldn’t help but notice all the trash accumulating around the lakeshore.

Where I was at was not indicative of the entire lake, but there are certain places where there’s a lot of trash — especially where I like to fish. The second time I went out there, I decided to take a garbage bag and clean it up. I also noticed the trash collects in areas only accessible by boat, and it got me thinking it was going to take more than a walk around the lake to clean it up properly.”

When I later snagged what turned out to be a slipper shoe instead of a fish, I decided to take it a step further. After much research and due diligence, I launched a 501(c)3 non-profit organization called Clear Texas Lakes, a full-scale lake clean-up initiative dedicated to the continuous removal of trash and debris from Texas lake shorelines.

After speaking with the U S Army Corps of Engineers, I learned no one organization formally is in charge of cleaning Texas lakes, nor is there a budget within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In fact, Corps officials indicated I was the first person to ask about developing such a program.

I also came across the Texas Department of Transportation’s long-running Don’t Mess with Texas campaign but found it pertained to roads and highways only. I wanted to create something like this for the area lakeshores, and as a new retiree, I was looking to do something meaningful and fun.

It’s a simple concept, It’s not necessarily a ‘green’ thing it’s a ‘clean’ thing. You see trash, you pick it up, you throw it in a garbage can.

We are unique in that our cleanup effort is continuous rather than periodical. The trash buildup is very prevalent with each new storm bringing in and moving trash and debris all around. This can be harmful to people while recreating at the lakes and can be detrimental to wildlife as well.

While Northern California is beautiful, the often foggy, cold, damp weather no longer us. We wanted to be somewhere warmer and accessible for retirement. This brought us to the Dallas area. As a bonus, Delaney was accepted as a transfer student and is now a junior at Southern Methodist University.

I am no stranger to community service. I have held several leadership roles including boy scouts, youth baseball, site and parent council, and fundraising. Not having experience in forming non-profit organizations, however, I reached out to SCORE Mentors, an organization that helps people start new businesses.

Currently, Clear Texas Lakes focuses primarily on Lake Lewisville. The team uses a pontoon boat donated by Vista 1 Construction plus nets, grabbers, stabbers, cables, and other equipment to remove the trash and debris. I purchased and donated a truck and currently fund all operational costs. I hope to raise awareness about his organization and plan to secure sponsorships, partnerships, and grants to support existing operations and eventually expand to other area lakes.

Don, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in Oregon and around 1990 moved to a small town on the coast of Northern California where I met My wife Kathy and raised our children, Dustin, Darik, and Delaney. After working about 10 years each in the lumber industry, electrical construction, property management, and owning an automobile glass business, I decided to retire and was looking for a change. Kathy, a timber industry IT professional, retired around the same time.

While Northern California is beautiful, the often foggy, cold, damp weather no longer us. We wanted to be somewhere warmer and accessible for retirement. This brought us to the Dallas area. As a bonus, Delaney was accepted as a transfer student and is now a junior at Southern Methodist University.

I am no stranger to community service. I have held several leadership roles including boy scouts, youth baseball, site and parent council, and fundraising. Not having experience in forming non-profit organizations, however, I reached out to SCORE Mentors, an organization that helps people start new businesses.

Currently, Clear Texas Lakes focuses primarily on Lake Lewisville. The team uses a pontoon boat donated by Vista 1 Construction plus nets, grabbers, stabbers, cables, and other equipment to remove the trash and debris. I purchased and donated a truck for transporting the boat. I hope to raise awareness about the Clear Texas Lakes initiative so that people will be more aware of the trash buildup and consider being part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After going through the process of learning what would be involved in operating a nonprofit initiative and completing all of the steps to make it officially ready, I found that I needed a signed memorandum of understanding with the U S Army Corps of Engineers in order to have their blessing on doing the project, securing places to launch the boat and having the use of their dumpsters for disposal of the trash. It was all fine and dandy..until..Covid-19 broke out! Like everyone else, I was stuck in the mud. It took over a year to have the necessary paperwork signed and delivered which would normally take maybe a month. During that time I still woke up every day thinking “what am I going to do today to make this happen”, which was helpful because when it finally got signed, I was off and running!

Any advice for managing a team?

I really like making it fun! We find all kinds of stuff so we yell out when we find something interesting and joke a lot with each other. We all know that it can be pretty gross, but that’s half the fun! Also by reminding people of what an important thing they are doing, contributing in keeping the lakes clean and safe, plus what a good job they are doing makes people feel good. I don’t have to make that up either, people really like to make a difference and they do great work!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cleartexaslakes.org
• Facebook: Clear Texas Lakes