Donate to this project
project leader
Keri R
location
1245 North Spring Street
(Los Angeles)
latest update rss
New license, new sponsor, new partnership!

the project

We work on the local level to transform perceptions of the LA River through on-the-water adventures and environmental education. Our goal is to help people see and feel the value of the river and develop a mutually beneficial relationship with this mistreated waterway. We believe that the more people develop a relationship with the river, the more they will play an active role in its protection and revitalization. It is particularly important to foster this relationship with Los Angeles youth, who have limited opportunities to make connections with the living parts of their landscape.

Through the generous contributions of ioby donors, urban youths will be able to participate in river adventures. Through these adventures, kids will learn about the Los Angeles River’s truly unique watershed, while gaining knowledge of boating skills and river safety, working as a team, and acquiring leadership and community-building skills, and cleaning up the river. The adventures include river cleanup and educational activities focused on local wildlife, the watershed, history of the river, and boating and river safety skills.

the steps

  1. Outreach to local school groups and clubs to let them know of the opportunity for adventure and education on the LA River.
  2. Obtain permit from Army Corps of Engineers for river trips
  3. Provide four trips (approximately 10 kids on each trip) sometime between April and October 2012 (depending on permit-response times).

why we're doing it

There are some things you probably don’t know about the LA River: despite appearances, it’s a real river. It’s not just a movie set or a drainage ditch or a lifeless trash dump. It is a living ecosystem that carries water from the mountain ranges that surround Los Angeles into the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, these aren’t widely known facts. In the 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers initiated a flood control project that paved the majority of the river, and with the cement came a shift in perception: the river was no longer a river.  Until July 2010, the LA River was not considered “traditionally navigable," so it was not protected by federal regulations, such as the Clean Water Act, which limit industrial discharges and protect wetlands.

We helped change that by raising the profile of the river and paddling the 51 mile stretch from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach (it is navigable!). Our work is only beginning. We have taken some significant strokes in highlighting the river as an integral part of the watershed that deserves to be protected and restored. But we need to do more. We need to connect people to the river so that they will be inspired to protect and restore it to a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable urban waterway for current and future generations of Angelenos.

For more information: www.lariverexpeditions.org and www.rocktheboatfilm.com

Conversation

03/20/2012 - 6:05pm bucksledge

I didn't even know the LA River had water! Sounds like a great project - good luck!

budget

Fiscal Agent fee, San Joaquin River Stewardship Program, $450
4 river adventures for 10 students each @ $50 per student, LA River Expeditions, $2,000 (100% subsidy of ticket price for 40 at-risk youth on 4 trips)
10 Life jackets @ $50 each at Sports Chalet, $500
Bags and gloves (for trash cleanup), $50

Total = $3000

third party credit card processing fee (3%) = $90
ioby labor and materials fee = $35
Total to raise = $3125



RAISED = $2,022.00
ioby Platform Fee  $35.00
3rd Party Credit Card Processing Fee (3%) $58
TOTAL TO DISBURSE = $1,929

 

updates

New license, new sponsor, new partnership!

Posted 08/21/2012 - 4:17pm

 

We have obtained our license to be a tour operator for Los Angeles River canoe/kayak trips this 2012 season! With our new 501c3 sponsor, San Joaquin River Stewardship Program, we are forging an upstate-downstate partnership that takes action to solve our public access and water mismanagement issues.  We're all in it together!
 
So we've raised 30% of the budget for this campaign thus far, and would love to complete it so that we can get on with the business of getting underserved youth out there on the river this season (which only runs through Sept. 30th).  
 
Los Angeles is the most park-starved major U.S. city, so it's important that we make sure these kids aren't left behind and have ample opportunities to use their hometown river.  Thanks for any and all donations!
 

 

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Charlotte K.
  • Clinton I.
  • Deborah S.
  • John P.
  • Janet K A.
  • Gina D.
  • Danton M.
  • George W.
  • Tracy F.
  • Jed S.
  • Elaine B.
  • Tuly M.
  • Laura V.
  • Jed S.
  • Paul L.
  • MATTHEW D.
  • Michael U.
  • Scott S.
  • Brian B.
  • Danny Y.
  • Mike F.
  • Michael W.
  • Michelle L.
  • Janet A.
  • Jessica W.
  • Jolene L.
  • Monluedee L.
  • Anne N.
  • Carol J.
  • Steven P.
  • Wyn F.
  • Katie W.
  • Theodora M.
  • George W.
  • Lisa R.
  • Keri R.
  • Janet J.
  • Elizabeth S.
  • Erin B.
  • Steve R.