 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
ELIZABETH , N.J. , May 28 th, 2005 - Mayor Chris Bollwage, the City of Elizabeth and Groundwork Elizabeth are announcing River Awareness Day, which will bring city organizations and volunteers together to educate, clean, plant, and beautify a portion of the Elizabeth River . River Awareness Day will be held at on Saturday, June 18th from 9:00 a.m to 1 p.m. along the banks of the Elizabeth River at Mattano Park .
“The Elizabeth River bisects our great City and is one of the very reasons that Elizabeth was located here hundreds of years ago,” said Mayor Chris Bollwage. “The Elizabeth River cleanup effort that we are organizing will help restore a part of the river to its former beauty and help us continue our efforts to beautify all areas of Elizabeth, making the City a better and more beautiful place to live and raise a family.”
Tom’s of Maine and the National Park Foundation have granted funds for Groundwork Elizabeth to hold the event. Sarah Chappell Armentrout, Tom’s Group Team Leader of Corporate Communications & Values Development, states, “Tom’s of Maine is proud to work side by side with the National Park Foundation and our other non-profit partners in our campaign to save America’s troubled rivers.”
As a warm up for River Awareness Day, an Elizabeth River Cleanup was held last October, and attracted more than 130 volunteers from all avenues of Elizabeth life. Robin Lospinoso, Co-President of the Groundwork Board of Directors is enthusiastic about Groundwork’s early successes. “We are encouraged by the amount of support and success we have achieved in our first year of operation”, stated Lospinoso, “we will continue to provide opportunities for the public to become involved in ‘changing places, changing lives’, the credo of the Groundwork organization”.
Groundwork Elizabeth has as its mission the improvement of the physical environment for the benefit of changing people’s lives for the better and encourages the public to take ownership of its natural gifts, such as trees and rivers. “Take ownership of your environment”, advises Jonathan Phillips, Executive Director of Groundwork Elizabeth, “the more committed the public is to protecting its environment, the greater impact towards a greater quality of life”. To volunteer for River Awareness Day, please call 908-289-0262, extension 203, or log on to Groundwork Elizabeth’s website to e-mail interest to the organization. www.groundworkelizabeth.com