Exciting news for our local waterways: environmental organizations Matanzas Riverkeeper and North Florida Coastal Caretakers (NFCC) are joining forces!

Matanzas Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect the health of the Matanzas River and its watershed through advocacy, education, and community engagement. In recent years, Matanzas Riverkeeper has collaborated with NFCC to raise awareness about the dangers of plastic waste in our environment through educational events and cleanups aboard the Litter Gitter, a boat used for waterway cleanups and data collection.

“Keeping debris out of our waterways is an integral part of maintaining a healthy watershed, so there was already a lot of overlap in our missions. We decided to harness that synergy by focusing our work as one organization,” said Matanzas Riverkeeper, Jen Lomberk.

The two organizations will combine their efforts and continue to operate under the Matanzas Riverkeeper name. Members from the NFCC team are coming on board as volunteers for a program of Matanzas Riverkeeper focused on litter prevention and education. NFCC’s founding president, Jessica Gott, will join Matanzas Riverkeeper as its volunteer Outreach Coordinator.

“The NFCC brand is going away but the mission lives on. The work we’ve done is too important for that and we’re not done. This is a chance to broaden our impact,” said Gott. Captain Adam Morley will continue to operate The Litter Gitter II, as part of Matanzas Riverkeeper’s new program. The Litter Gitter II is an upgraded vessel made possible in large part by a grant from the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida to continue the work of the original Litter Gitter boat. Morley added “I am very excited about joining the Riverkeeper to keep our river clean, it’s Litterly the best thing we could do.”

If you would like to help keep these efforts afloat, you can make a donation at: https://www.matanzasriverkeeper.org/donate