The New River Valley Regional Commission and the ReNew the New Committee received two awards for the “Fall into the New” river clean-up event, held in August in Radford. The Regional Commission received the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) 2016 Innovation Award for their role as convener and facilitator of the clean-up event. The Regional Commission received the award during NADO’s 2016 Annual Training Conference, held in October, in San Antonio, Texas.
The ReNew the New Committee, a volunteer organization based out of Giles County, also received an award for the Fall into the New clean-up event. ReNew the New received the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Society’s (SWCS) 2016 Merit Award during the SWCS’s annual meeting in November. Paul Moody, owner of New River’s Edge, Inc. in Giles County, received the award on behalf of ReNew the New, from VA SWCA president, Scott Gordon. The SWCA Merit Award recognizes organizations for their outstanding conservation effort or activity by a group, business, or organization.
Fall into the New hosted 450 volunteers from Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, and Pulaski Counties, and the City of Radford, and cleaned up 10 miles of the New River. Volunteers represented student groups, businesses, river advocacy groups, and the general public. Outfitters and local youth groups donated 150 canoes for the volunteer’s use, and 4 tons of trash and hundreds of tires were removed from the New River.
Check out a three-minute video on the Commission’s you tube channel: ReNew Event Promotional Video
For further information, please contact Michael Gottfredson (michaelg@nrvrc.org ), 540-639-9313, ext. 205.