Project gives students hands-on experience with keeping Missouri River clean

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Last year, one group pulled out more than 83 tons of trash from the Missouri River. Tuesday, Missouri River Relief made sure area students know how important that water is to the community.

The group met with students from Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology. They showed them how important the river is, and pointed out that most of the metro area gets water from the river.

“A lot of people that live here in the metro KC area don't know a lot about the river, even though it runs right through the city,” River Relief Program Manager Steve Schnarr said. “That's part of why we do what we do, to give people that opportunity to have hands on experience with the river and learn about it.”

The students spent their morning on boats picking litter out of the water.

There will be a volunteer clean-up effort Saturday, Oct. 20 at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kan.

Registration starts at 8:30 a.m., clean-up will be from 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information, visit www.riverrelief.org .