The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Youth Environmental Program presented close to $15,000 in cash awards to youth groups from around the state for their efforts to better the environment in the Mountain State.
Groups were recognized during the 61st annual Youth Environmental Day at North Bend State Park in Ritchie County.
The North Fork 4-H Club was the recipient of the District 2 Coordinator Award.
Members of the club completed activities through their recycling drives held throughout the year. They also collected Trex plastic in conjunction with North Fork Elementary School.
“We do make it shine,” commented Rebecca Heavner, club leader.
The award is given to youth groups in each of the six districts in recognition of their overall community environmental efforts. Each winner received $200.
Youth groups can become involved in the West Virginia Youth Environmental Program by simply enrolling at any time. There is no obligation and no cost. Each group that enrolls receives informative materials, lists of available awards, the award sponsors, project ideas, and criteria for reporting.
Youth groups enrolled in the program must submit a report of their projects to become eligible for more than $15,000 in awards. Projects are to be completed from March 16 of the current year through March 15 of the next year. These reports are judged and the winning youth groups are presented their awards at the Annual Youth Environmental Day.
During the past year, groups enrolled in the YEP collected 875 bags of trash. They recycled more than 9,000 pounds of aluminum, 62,000 pounds of plastic, 100,000 pounds of steel and 80,000 pounds of paper. They also planted more than 500 trees and cleaned trash from 210 miles of roadways, in addition to community areas and streams. In total, the amount of volunteer hours accumulated by YEP groups equaled an estimated savings of $11.3 million for the state.
