UPDATE: First Rocheport river cleanup to be held Saturday

COLUMBIA — Missouri River Relief is making its way to Rocheport. The organization is heading there to clean up the Missouri River on Saturday morning for the first time in its nine-year existence.

Steve Schnarr, Missouri River Relief’s lower reach manager, said the volunteer organization has wanted to come to Rocheport since he joined the staff in 2006.  Schnarr said he noticed Rocheport’s need for trash cleanup when Missouri River Relief mapped trash over 750 miles of the Missouri River three years ago.

“There was a pretty bad flood there that caused a bunch of trash to get dumped in the river,” Schnarr said. “We’ve wanted to come back and clean it ever since.”

Schnarr is hoping for more than 100 volunteers to help remove trash either by foot on the Katy Trail or by boat on the Missouri River. Volunteers should meet at 9 a.m. at the Katy Trail Depot, across from the Trailside Cafe parking lot. 

The organization has hosted 46 river cleanups since its inception in 2001 and has collected an average of 10.4 tons of trash per cleanup.  Schnarr said he hopes potential volunteers will not only come out to pick up trash, but to enjoy a rare chance to get out on the Missouri River.

“With this event, we can take care of a place we love,” Schnarr said.

Volunteers can find more information at Missouri River Relief’s Web site, http://www.riverrelief.org/.