Missouri River Relief officials are finalizing plans for a river cleanup effort Oct. 26.
The clean up had been planned for earlier this year but was delayed due to flooding.
MRR officials said due to this year's high-water events and increased awareness of single-use plastic waste, the 2019 Jefferson City Clean-up is expected to draw more than 250 volunteers made up of families, individuals, civic and church groups, school clubs, students and corporate teams. Volunteer registration is closed.
Missouri River Relief - a community, volunteer and equipment-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the Missouri River through hands-on river cleanups, education and stewardship activities - begins planning these events months in advance.
The organization will send out staff Friday before the cleanup to scout out the best places to gather and dispose of garbage found in the river.
Volunteers will gather at Wilson's Serenity Point at the Noren Access in north Jefferson City at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 26 then head out in boats starting at 9 a.m. to the scouted trash sites along a 10-mile stretch of river from the boat ramp. MRR will use it's own boats along with boats furnished by the Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Cleanup volunteers will head back to the access at noon for lunch, then a team of about 30 volunteers will head back out to the trash sites and bring that back to the access, where it will be sorted for recycling.
Since 2001 the organization has hosted 175 Missouri River cleaning events, using more than 26,000 volunteers and removing more than 920 tons of trash from 1,200 miles of the river banks.