02/18/23

our 100th volunteer event celebration

Lower SAlt River Land & WAter Cleanup with Odysea aquarium

On Saturday, February 18th, 2023, we partnered with OdySea Aquarium for our 100th volunteer event & our 7th annual President’s Day Weekend Lower Salt River Land & Water Cleanup.

199 volunteers, including 52 youth volunteers, helped us remove 1.56 tons (3,120 pounds) of trash from Coon Bluff Recreation Area. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us & make a huge impact on the Lower Salt River!

We are grateful for Dave, Jess, Cassi, Sam & the entire team from OdySea Aquarium! The the OdySea Aquarium Foundation has been a sponsor of Natural Restorations since 2018. We have partnered with OdySea Aquarium for numerous river & lake cleanups, and we are grateful for their support. ⁠

Huge thanks to Jon, Patrick and everyone from REI’s Arizona Adventure Center for bringing out tandem kayaks for volunteers to use to get trash out of the river and get across to the other side of the river where the bulk of the trash was. Thank you to Teri, Robert, Paul, Hilary, Sean, & everyone from Riverbound Sports for bringing out kayaks & paddle boards for volunteers to use & an XL paddle board to shuttle volunteers and full trash bags across the river. ⁠

Thank you to everyone from the US Forest Service Tonto National Forest, the US Forest Service Southwestern Regional, and the US Forest Service Washington DC Office for attending our 100th volunteer event. 70 out of 100 of our volunteer events have been on the Tonto National Forest and we are grateful for their continued support.

⁠We would also like to thank our Sponsors!

Without their support, events like this would not be possible: AZ 4Runner Outsiders, Arizona Toy Pros, Battle Born Offroad, Desert Monsters Tours, Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Illuminated Funds Group, Joyride Society, Nitro Gear & Axle, the OdySea Aquarium Foundation, ON Semiconductor, Overland Expo Foundation, the Phoenix Suns, REI Co-op, RideNow Powersports, Salt River Project, State 48 Overland, Stellar Adventures, Tru Flask, Victory 4x4, and Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative.

Thank you to Cody Van Cleve from CVC Photography for capturing the event and group photo for us. Check out all of his event photos below.

Thanks to Burt Morin for all of her help! In addition to helping with set-up, registration, and tear-down, we lost track of how many cart loads of full trash bags she hauled over to the dumpsters.

Thank you to our Dedicated Restoration Team for all of their hard work at the event!

Our 100th volunteer event was a chance for us to celebrate a huge milestone for Natural Restorations continue making a positive impact on the Lower Salt River. We have removed 125,235 pounds of trash from the Lower Salt River and over 18,000 pounds of that trash was removed from Coon Bluff Recreation Area!

We are grateful for the opportunity to make such a big impact on the Lower Salt River.

click picture for full-size image gallery

Photos Courtesy of CVC Photography

photos courtesy of Justin & Nicole Corey

Photos from Burt Morin

Raffle Winners

Thank you so much to OdySea Aquarium, Pit Boss Grills, & Tru Flask for helping us show volunteers how much their hard work is appreciated! ⁠

Thank you to everyone at OdySea Aquarium for donating a pair of SeaTrek Encounter tickets, a pair of Sloth Encounter tickets, a pair of Penguin Encounter tickets, a pair of Butterfly Wonderland tickets, multiple pairs of OdySea Aquarium general admission tickets, 2 canvas paintings created by stingrays at the aquarium, & a bunch of OdySea Aquarium reusable water bottles.⁠

Thank you to Pit Boss Grills for donating a Pit Boss Sportsman's Portable Tabletop 2-burner Griddle through Arizona Toy Pros! ⁠Thank you to everyone at Tru Flask for donating four 40oz laser etched bottles to the raffle!⁠

We also gave away a couple Natural Restorations hats and the U.S. Forest Service brought a bunch of patches & stickers for volunteers. ⁠