On October 15th, Job Point partnered with Missouri River Relief to provide their YouthBuild members the opportunity to experience what it means to be a steward of the Missouri River. On October 15th, almost twenty volunteers and staff from Job Point and their YouthBuild program arrived to Cooper’s Landing Campgrounds & Marina.
They were greeted by a small fleet of Missouri River Relief and Missouri Department of Conservation boats. Christopher Kennedy of the Missouri Department of Conservation gave an opening talk about his personal experiences growing up with the Mississippi River and how he channeled his love for the outdoors into a career in conservation. The YouthBuild young adults were divided into two stewardship groups that rotated through the day’s activities which included a short cleanup, catfishing and creating art inspired by the scenic view.
For lunch, Job Point held a scrumptious fish fry complete with fried catfish, spaghetti, coleslaw and cornbread. After the filling meal, volunteers were back out on the river for a few more hours before an afternoon storm rolled in. Debbie Njai, founder of Black People Who Hike, gave a closing speech to the rain jacket clad group about her journey connecting with nature and finding ways to explore the great outdoors. One attendee said that their favorite part of the event was:
Stories about this event were featured in the Columbia Tribune as well as a short interview with KBIA.
Missouri River Relief would like to extend a Big Muddy thank you to each and every one of the volunteers, partners and guest speakers.
This event would not have been possible without the enthusiastic participation from Job Point’s volunteers and staff. Missouri River Relief would like to thank Jerrell Morton for continuing to provide new opportunities for those in the YouthBuild program.
We would also like to extend a thank you to the Missouri River Department of Conservation (MDC) for assisting with this event's catfishing and to Wildys World Pop Up Art Studio for leading the volunteers in their artistic endeavors as well as to the wonderful guest speakers, Christopher Kennedy and Debbie Njai.
Last but certainly not least, many thanks to our dedicated Missouri River Relief Crew and Volunteers who donated their time and effort to run this event.
