Waterkeeper Alliance Announces 5th Annual SPLASH Series, Presented by Toyota
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
Thousands of Americans Swim, Paddle and Clean Up Their Local Waterways to Celebrate the Importance of Clean Water Nationwide
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – April 16, 2015- Waterkeeper Alliance, the global environmental organization dedicated to defending every person’s right to clean water, today announced the locations of its 5th Annual SPLASH Event Series, presented nationally by Toyota. SPLASH events will take place in waterways across the United States to support Waterkeeper Alliance and local Waterkeeper member organizations by engaging community members and clean-water enthusiasts in water-based recreational activities like swimming, paddling, boating, as well as on-water clean up events. The 2015 SPLASH Series kicks off in Malibu, California at Stand Up for Clean Water to benefit Los Angeles Waterkeeper on April 18 and continues with a Great Russian River Race on Sonoma County’s Russian River, a 10-mile paddle down the Hackensack River in New Jersey, the Mobile Baykeeper Grandman Triathlon in Alabama, the Back to the Chattahoochee River Race and Festival in Georgia, the Riverkeeper Sweep in New York, and the Buzzards Bay Swim in Massachusetts. Additional SPLASH events including the New York Harbor Regatta and Puget Sound Clean-Up will take place later this year to round out a full series of events dedicated to getting local communities involved in the protection of their local waterways.
“Taking action to clean our shorelines and providing opportunities to enjoy recreating on our waterways are the best tools we have to connect people to the importance of making our waters swimmable, drinkable and fishable,” said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Over the past five years, through presentation of the SPLASH Series, Toyota has contributed $1 million to help Waterkeeper Alliance and local Waterkeeper organizations invite thousands of people to play a role in the protection of their local waterways. We are thankful to Toyota for presenting this national program to encourage this type of involvement on such a large scale.”
“Toyota places a high priority on creating an environmentally sustainable future, and preserving our nation’s precious water resources is key to keeping that promise for future generations,” said Kevin Butt, Toyota SVP of Environmental Engineering. “As an example, through our efforts last year, we saved more than 93 million gallons of water by practicing the three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle. We are pleased to once again provide our nationwide support to the Waterkeeper Alliance at its 2015 SPLASH events. It is through groups such as Waterkeeper Alliance that Toyota can help raise awareness of all American’s to become guardians of the nation’s natural resources for generations to come.”
Each of the events scheduled for the 2015 SPLASH Series will be designed to suit the interests of the local community in which the event takes place and feature festivities the whole community can enjoy.
The first in this season’s series of SPLASH events, Stand Up for Clean Water, will take place in Malibu, California on April 18th at Paradise Cove. Hundreds of clean water supporters and outdoor enthusiasts will join Waterkeeper President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Cheryl Hines and stars from surfing, music and entertainment to participate in paddleboard races, board demos and enjoy a day on the beach with friends and family to benefit Los Angeles Waterkeeper’s mission to protect our ocean from water pollution.
Other SPLASH events will follow throughout the year in markets across the country, including Fairhope, AL; New Bedford, MA; Secaucus, NJ; New York, NY; Alpharetta, GA; Healdsburg, CA; Boulder, CO; locations throughout Puget Sound in WA; and others.
For more information, please visit: www.waterkeeper.org.
Contacts:
Tina Posterli for Waterkeeper Alliance at [email protected] or 516.526.9371
Carrie Waible/CW&Co. for SPLASH Series at [email protected] or 646.532.6730
About Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 250 Waterkeeper organizations around the world and focusing citizen advocacy on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol and protect more than 2 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. For more information please visit: www.waterkeeper.org
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world’s top automaker and creator of the Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we’ve built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 42,000 people (more than 33,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.67 million cars and trucks (more than 2.35 million in the U.S.) in 2014 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the country, with a focus on education, safety and the environment. As part of this commitment, we share the company’s extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
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