Announcements

Support our Northern Neck students and community... Contribute to the Regional School Recycling Initiative!

On the Northern Neck, a wave of support has risen for initiating a REGIONAL Single-Stream SCHOOL RECYCLING pilot that will allow for viable, coordinated regional school recycling programs where none exists today. Recently, the counties of Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland and their respective school superintendents, county administrators, teachers, and other Northern Neck organizations and citizens have come together in an unprecedented way in support of this effort. All of us want to be able to show our children the meaning of healthy living and true conservation of our precious natural resources.

One important way is through recycling much of the waste from the school systems in our Chesapeake Bay region. Through this effort, the children will receive education and learn through action. They will learn the many values of recycling and reducing litter found on rural roadsides and waterways. The hope is that this educational effort will spill over to parents and other citizens.

Northern Neck Soil & Water Conservation District (NNSWCD), whose mission is to educate the community and advance the conservation of natural resources, is spearheading this program. With the organizational support of local people, we are establishing a one-year pilot program that will quantify the results in four areas: educational, environmental, fiscal, and in the generation of community pride. In these extraordinary financial times, it is especially important to have the results of this pilot project be experienced before counties and school systems can commit long-term to a major new program.

Because of the rural nature of the Northern Neck and the distance a recycler must travel between customers and the recycling center, it is only economically feasible to initiate this as a regional school recycling effort that includes multiple school systems.

While the REGIONAL SCHOOL RECYCLING INITIATIVE is being coordinated by NNSWCD, partners supporting this effort include the Recycling Network of the Northern Neck, Tidewater RC & D, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and citizen volunteers from a number of local organizations.

We are calling upon you and other friends in our area to show generosity in helping with this pilot.  Your contribution will help cover the costs of one year of pickups at county schools and school offices, education, signage, posters, volunteer supplies, and similar items.  In return, you or your company will be widely appreciated and promoted in presentations, press releases, brochures, and with school signage.

Please be generous in your sponsorship of the Northern Neck Regional School Recycling Pilot.  The levels and benefits of participation are outlined in the enclosed sponsorship agreement.  We look forward to your response and your support, and we thank you for your consideration.  For more information, please contact Faye Andrashko, Project Manager, at the NNSWCD office at (804) 333-3525, ext 113, or faye.andrashko@nnswcd.org.

Very truly yours,

Junius C. Berger
Board Chair, Northern Neck Soil & Water Conservation District