On Saturday morning, Jan. 18, more than 100 student-anglers from high schools across the state will help kick off the 15^th year of Renew Our Rivers with the Cleanup Classic on Lay Lake.

The event features high school angler teams from the Alabama Bass Trail fishing series in a competition to see who can pick up the most trash. The event begins at 7 a.m. on Lay Lake and concludes at noon with a tournament-style weigh-in at Beeswax Landing. The top three teams receive cash prizes.  

“Renew Our Rivers began with one Alabama Power employee who had a vision to improve the health and beauty of the Coosa River near Plant Gadsden, where he worked,” said Matt Bowden, vice president of Environmental Affairs at Alabama Power. “As we celebrate the 15^th year of this grassroots effort, we hope to engage the next generation in stewardship of our lakes and rivers.”  

With that goal in mind, Alabama Power has partnered with the Alabama Bass Trail’s high school fishing series to provide opportunities for students to collect the “conservation hours” they need to qualify for grants from the Bass Trail’s Service Hours Grant Program. In addition to taking part in the Cleanup Classic, students can volunteer and receive conservation hours at Renew Our Rivers events held throughout 2014 at sites along the Alabama Bass Trail.   

This summer, students will be invited to participate in a workshop where they will construct fish habitats. The workshop is being sponsored and hosted by Alabama Power’s environmental stewardship team. In the fall, students will help install the habitats in Alabama Power lakes.

The Alabama Power Foundation is also marking the 15^th year of Renew Our Rivers with the launch of “Students to Stewards,” a program designed to encourage conservation education. Through a competitive application process, Students to Stewards will provide support for dynamic stewardship and conservation projects that educate youth about the importance of the state’s unique ecosystems – encouraging students to become better stewards of the environment.

The Cleanup Classic is the first of more than 30 Renew Our Rivers volunteer events scheduled in 2014. Since its inception in 2000, more than 56,000 volunteers have collected more than 13 million pounds of trash and debris from waterways across the Southeast.

For an up-to-date listing of Renew Our Rivers cleanups scheduled in 2014, please visit www.renewourrivers.com or go to www.alabamapower.com and click on “Lakes & Recreation.”  

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), provides reliable, affordable electricity to more than 1.4 million customers across the state.