Friends of the Middle River Awarded Green Grant for Litter Prevention

Friends of the Middle River is awarded a $500 Green Grant in the Litter Prevention Category as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program!

Friends of the Middle River (FOMR), in Verona, promotes the stewardship and enjoyment of the Middle River Watershed through volunteer action, education, science, and outreach.  Litter hurts the river and her wild residents.  Tires that sit in the river for decades slowly disintegrate and release chemical pollutants into the water. Seeing ongoing litter in the river de-sensitizes residents to its unsightliness, implies that the community doesn’t care about where they live, and sends the message that littering will be tolerated.

Funds provided through the Green Grants program will be used to pay for dumpster rental for ten days during their Annual Middle River Cleanup. For the past seven years they have organized up to 75-100 volunteers per year into teams assigned to clean different sections of the Middle River. FOMR’s cleanup week is in August when the water is low (so you can see the trash) and the temperatures are still warm.

Volunteers clean up by walking in the River pulling a canoe behind them which acts as a barge for the trash collected. Each team of volunteers cleans a mile or two of the River. Other volunteers act as land crew and help unload, sort, or inventory the trash. Then the trash is transferred to a dumpster.

The Middle River is one of the headwaters of the Shenandoah River, whose waters flow all the way to the Chesapeake Bay. Membership in FOMR is free and open to everyone.

We appreciate the work of so many volunteers to keep our waterways clean — thank you!