Press release

from Western North Carolina Alliance

The community is invited to a cleanup party along the French Broad River on Sept. 29 to help remove trash from our beloved waterway and to also have a great time while being part of a great cause.
Each volunteer will have the opportunity to paddle a boat and will be rewarded with tasty Sierra Nevada beer, food, and a T-shirt. Spots are limited, so those interested should RSVP to Hartwell@wnca.org.

This event is a partnership between the Western North Carolina Alliance’s French Broad Riverkeeper, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Southern Appalachian Brewery and Asheville Greenworks. With the community’s help, we’ll remove tires, plastic bottles, cans, old shopping carts, sports balls, and any other river trash that volunteers can pile into their boats.

All recyclables will be sorted and the sports balls collected will be donated to area schools and sports leagues. On one previous cleanup, Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson counted and collected 31 basketballs and nine other types of sports balls in river - including a bowling ball.

"Anything we can do to remove trash from the river is a huge help,” Carson said, “but we want to also give back and reuse some of the items we find that are still salvageable.”
Don Schjeldahl, site coordinator with Sierra Nevada, is looking forward to the event. “We want to do everything we can to improve the French Broad River,” he said. “We think this river cleanup is a great start.”

Asheville Greenworks Volunteer/Clean Communities Coordinator Eric Bradford organizes and participates in hundreds of river and trash cleanups every year.
“Volunteers are the key to making our river cleaner,” Bradford said. “We harness the power of volunteers to vastly increase our ability to make a dent in the trash problem in our rivers.”

We hope to see you on there!

Event Details:
Who: The Western North Carolina Alliance, French Broad Riverkeeper, Asheville Greenworks, Southern Appalachian Brewery and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
What: River cleanup and party along the French Broad River.
When: 9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 29
Where: Volunteers will meet at Westphelt Park off Highway 280 by the Asheville Regional Airport.
To RSVP, email French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson at Hartwell@wnca.org