TURNER – A nonprofit group that spent much of the summer cleaning debris from the Androscoggin River has scored a $5,000 grant to help it continue its efforts.
Planet Dog Philanthropy, the nonprofit arm of the business Planet Dog, gave the money to Communities Getting Involved, according to the latter’s executive director, Eric Goodwin.
Communities Getting Involved is a nonprofit entity that organized the Scrub the Scogg Androscoggin River garbage cleanup. The group has collected more than six tons of garbage from the river with the help of more than 60 volunteers.
Goodwin said Communities Getting Involved operates on a shoestring budget. This summer it put together cleanup efforts along a 100-mile stretch of the Androscoggin.
It did it without the financial support of many communities that Goodwin had hoped would help fund the project. In some towns, he faced a lack of volunteers, he said.
The lack of resources was going to force some cutbacks in the ambitious cleanup. But the philanthropic group’s grant drastically minimized the need for cutbacks.
“We are incredibly proud to support the efforts of (Communities Getting Involved). We value the health of the river, and we applaud the innovation and community spirit that Eric brings to the cleanup effort,” Kristen Smith, Planet Dog Philanthropy’s executive director, said in a statement announcing the grant.
Goodwin added, “The grant that we received from Planet Dog has helped us in more ways than I can describe. This grant made it possible for us to add some sections back in to the cleanup plan.”
Planet Dog employees and their families will join Communities Getting Involved on the river for a season-ending cleanup around the Brunswick area of the Androscoggin on Oct. 16 and 17. Volunteers are needed for Oct. 16, Goodwin said. Anyone interested may call him at 235-2591 or send e-mail to erickgoodwin@yahoo.com.
Volunteers usually get in a boat and go out and remove garbage from the river.
Last year Planet Dog awarded $3,500 to the Androscoggin River Watershed Council, which works to improve the environmental quality and promote healthy and prosperous communities in the Androscoggin River watershed.
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