Congratulations To Our Hilton Head Harbor Town Vacation
Raffle Winner - Lucky Ticket #25!
Thank you to everyone who participated helping to advance FOLAR's mission.
 
Working to conserve and protect the Appomattox River for all to enjoy

Happening on the River!
 
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Summer -Fall 2019
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ALONG THE RIVER WITH FOLAR
20TH Annual James River Regional Clean-up 
September 14, 2019
FOLAR is joining the James River Advisory Council in its 20th year of cleaning up the James River and Tributaries shorelines! The cleanup is a cooperative, regional event spanning more than 75 miles of the James River at 17 sites. On the Appomattox River, Petersburg Patton Park and Hopewell City Marina boating clean-up are two of the sites. The Cleanup Day kicks off James River Week, a series of events around the region that celebrate the Rivers in our region. We encourage you to be a part of this great regional event! 

Fall Trail Counts 
September 18 and 21, 2019
Twice each year FOLAR organizes counts of pedestrian and bike use at key access points of the Appomattox River Trail. Volunteers are needed for counting on Thursday, September 19th and Saturday, September 21st between 10am-12pm or 5pm-7pm. Counts provide valuable data used to improve and inform pedestrian and bike infrastructure planning and design. In appreciation of your time and effort, Trail Count volunteers will be entered into a drawing for a great FOLAR gift.


12TH Annual FOLAR Paddle-or-Battle!
September 28, 2019
Come out and paddle to preserve the Appomattox River!
This is your opportunity for a fun paddle or a competitive race in your canoe, kayak, or SUP along 10 miles of the amazing Appomattox River!

There is something for everyone: 10-mile race or leisure paddle; 2-mile short paddle; and NEW!10-mile guided paddle with Hopewell Rec & Parks staff.
Shuttles, Finish-Line Cook-out lunch, T-shirt and Trophies for the Racers!
Event proceeds support FOLAR river conservation and stewardship programs along the Appomattox River.

2019 FOLAR Scholarship Recipients
FOLAR is proud to partner with the John Randolph Foundation to offer the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River Environmental Stewardship Scholarship  for students attending local high schools.
Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Victor and Reiko Liu
FOLAR Scholarship Committee members Ken and Debbie Newman with Erin Brooks and Hannah Garthwaite 
charitable fund, we awarded two FOLAR Environmental Stewardship Scholarships this year. The recipients were Erin Elizabeth Brooks who plans to study Biology/Animal Science and Hannah Mae Noel Garthwaite who plans to study Biology/Marine Science. Both are graduates of Thomas Dale High School. Congratulations to these two very deserving scholars!

The John Randolph Foundation Annual 'Hit the Greens for Scholarships' Golf Tournament is on September 27, 2019. It is a fund raiser to benefit the Foundation's scholarship funds and you can designate the FOLAR Environmental Stewardship Scholarship.
INCREASING FOLAR IMPACT
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Meet New FOLAR Board Member 
M. Omar Faison
We're excited to welcome Milton Omar Faison, Ph.D. to the FOLAR Board of Directors as the representative from Virginia State University (VSU). Omar is currently Associate Professor of Biology and the Assistant Vice President, Research at VSU. He also previously served as the Special Assistant to the Provost for Research and Scholarship. Omar has been teaching at VSU since 2004. He lives in Chesterfield County with his family. Omar earned a BA in Biology from Hampton College and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of Virginia. Omar brings valuable expertise to the leadership team. 

Challenge Grant Goal Achieved!
FOLAR is pleased to  announce we successfully completed the $100,000 matching grant challenge from The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation of Richmond, Virginia. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, FOLAR raised the necessary funds to meet and exceed the challenge grant goal enabling us to begin work on improving a central section of the  Appomattox River Trail in Petersburg.

American Water Charitable Foundation Grant  
FOLAR is very grateful to have been selected to receive a $20,000 Keep Communities Flowing Grant  from the American Water Charitable Foundation to complete a critical section of the Appomattox River Trail -- connecting communities to each other and nature (and the source water for our customers in Hopewell)! The impact of this grant is doubled because we could apply it to the challenge grant goal!

Virginia Outdoors Foundation
We are very pleased to announced that a reimbursement-fund grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation will help permanently protect a parcel of land for public access that is an important part of the Appomattox River Trail route. The parcel will be the first of several parcels of environmentally sensitive land along the Trail route that FOLAR will work to protect. The impact of this grant is doubled because a portion can be applied to help with the challenge grant goal.

FOLAR Works On Trail Design
Behind the scenes, FOLAR is collaborating to create conservation minded and sustainably built, multi-use trails that provide everyone in our community with the opportunity for accessible, safe, and enjoyable outdoor experiences. Everyday we are working desk-top to riverside with our many partners from local and state government, foundations, businesses, consultants, and community members!

If you believe in this work and you know and love the Appomattox River and it's amazing surrounding natural resources, you know how great the need is and how important the work is to create access and protect our river.  And we need your help to cover the expenses of managing and maintaining these efforts. Please join and contribute to FOLAR today. 
STAY CONNECTED to FOLAR

JOIN FOLAR  as a member and help us achieve our mission

FOLAR on Facebook where we have more than 1,400 Followers

 

Twitter at @FOLARVA. Jump in and share your love of the Lower Appomattox River!

 

FOLARVA on Instagram.  Share all of your beautiful river and related nature photos

 
Shopping with  Amazon for FOLAR
When you shop with Amazon for the holidays, use  AmazonSmile  for your purchases.  When you do, you'll be able to  select FOLAR  as your charity and Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to support FOLAR's work to conserve and protect the beautiful Appomattox River!  It's easy to participate.  Just go to  www.amazonsmile.com  instead of www.amazon.com and use your same Amazon login information and password.  You'll be prompted to select your favorite charity, FOLAR, we hope. It's simple, it's helpful and - it's EASY! Thank you for your support.