Would you like to be one of our super-volunteers, taking Riverkeeper’s mission and education to new places? Our team will present a webinar, “Riverkeeper Ambassador 101” Wednesday, April 8 between 7:00-7:45pm to show you how. This follows up on our inaugural Ambassador Workshops that trained 61 Ambassadors in Albany, Esopus, Beacon, Ossining and Manhattan over the winter.
Riverkeeper Ambassadors are made up of Riverkeeper Sweep leaders, citizen scientists, community partners, and concerned citizens who wish to support Riverkeeper and activate their communities to help deliver a swimmable, fishable and clean Hudson to future generations.
Our in-person workshops focused on two key elements of effective communication: crafting action-oriented responses to, “What is Riverkeeper?” and developing personal clean water stories to inspire and engage the public throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley.
For example, a 14-year-old Ambassador in New York City described her experience of growing up fenced off from the river. She expressed her vision of a future in which old and young swim and play in a clean river. It is her goal to encourage others to help transform this vision of a “Hudson for all” into reality. Others spoke of their childhood when the Hudson smelled like sewage and oil and was treated as a dumping ground. In those days the river was a national disgrace, and a place to avoid, rather than embrace.
The Hudson River has come a long way from the bad days, but the challenges we face now threaten 40 years of progress Recent victories demonstrate the efficacy of our collective work and the contribution of our Ambassadors. None of these hard-won victories would be possible without an army of clean water advocates.
We need you. Join the webinar and sign up to represent Riverkeeper at dozens of outreach events from March to October. Our attendance at these events allows us to sign up new Riverkeeper members, educate the public about important threats and opportunities along the river, and get petition signatures on urgent issues. Help us work for a clean Hudson we can all be proud of.