Honors For Volunteers Who Help The Environment

Keeping our streets and waterways free of trash is something the New Jersey Clean Communities Council takes very seriously.  Next week, they'll hold a big event for those who took part in their mission.

Thousands of New Jersey children, adults, businesses and community groups from around the state who participated in the Adopt-a-Beach program in 2011 will be honored at  the 9th Annual New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) Seminar & Awards Banquet at the Wildwoods Convention Center and Cape May City's Congress Hall, May 23, 24th and 25th.

The three-day conference kicks off with the Kids-Teen Awards Program at the Wildwoods Convention Center, where over 1,200 children will be honored for their Adopt-a-Beach efforts during 2011. These activities include waterway-related litter abatement, recycling, graffiti  removal, source reduction, storm drain management, water cleanup, beautification and more. Live music and a demonstration by The Harlem Globe Trotters are among the events planned for the Kids-Teens celebration.

The Clean Communities Seminar, held May 24 at Congress Hall in Cape May City, will feature input from corporate representatives from Clean Ocean Action, Ocean Conservancy and Environmental Resource Planning LLC; a panel of New Jersey mayors; and  corporate executives from around the state. The event is sponsored by the nonprofit NJCCC and the N.J. League of Municipalities (NJLM).

The program, running from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., honors the more than 1,200 children who have helped make New Jersey a safer place to live by cleaning their local areas' bays, lakes, streams, rivers and ocean fronts. Special awards will be presented for projects and programs  deemed exceptional. Among them will be NJCCC's recent "Student Exchange" event, during which hundreds of environmentally aware students from throughout New Jersey united to clean areas of the Hudson River, then discussed solutions leading to safer, cleaner  waterways. In addition, during the awards ceremony, the children's group with the most extraordinary program in 2011 will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the New Jersey Food Council.

Scheduled performances and live bands include The Harlem Globetrotters and Quiet Riot; Dave Street; Grand Falloons; Jay Mankita; and more. Free parking for the press is available on premises.

"I am very impressed by the growing number of New Jersey students, especially from our middle schools, involved every year in environmental clean-up efforts around the state," said Sandy Huber, Executive Director of NJCCC. "We see kids out there taking water samples, pulling trash from our waterways, collecting garbage off our sandy beaches, and otherwise showing their dedication to a cleaner New Jersey," she claimed.

For more information about the event or the Council's mission, visit njclean.org or call 609-989-5900.