Blue River Watershed Association

“No committee can act without prior approval from the Board.”

“The Form 990 is reviewed by the Executive Director and Board President and then the full Board of Directors.”

“The Executive Committee monitors the policy throughout the year to ensure not only compliance, but enforcement of the policy by Board members.”

“The Board received comparable data from the local nonprofit salary survey and after review and discussion, determined the compensation package for the Executive Director. The most recent review was in 2016.”

“The organization made its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public during the tax year upon request.”

“In 2016, BRWA was awarded a $100,000 grant from State Farm Youth Advisory Board (YAB). This is the largest grant received since the organization's inception. The funded project, KIDS in Streams (Kids Investigate, Discover, & Study in Streams) included bringing TRUE Blue, BRWA's banner water quality program, to 37 KCMO public middle schools. TRUE Blue is a four lesson, fourday program on watersheds, stormwater runoff, point and nonpoint pollution, chemical pollution, and the impacts that people have on their waterways. So, for each TRUE Blue program scheduled, this constitutes four days of teaching by BRWA staff. KIDS included conducting a student council who met monthly to make decisions on awards for winners in a marketing campaign by the area's 6th Graders on KC Clean Streams and other aspects of the project, a stream cleanup through KC Clean Streams program, and purchase of state-of-the-art equipment to bring TRUE Blue further into STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). KIDS was a huge undertaking for the organization whose entire staff is comprised of part-time employees. These totals resulted in the agency's recordbreaking program total for providing 199 TRUE Blue during one school year. BRWA was awarded a $50,000 grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. The CPR: Communities Protecting Rivers project included working with two urban core communities, Seven Oaks and Marlborough, to identify, cleanup, and repurpose vacant lots to help reduce stormwater runoff to the Blue River. Residents also participated in TRUE Blue, attending water monitoring training, and conducting water tests on the Blue River. Through CPR, Seven Oaks was able to repurposing nearly 4 acres into a butterfly rain garden, wood-chipped walking trail, community orchard, and natural play area. Additionally, one of the four Seven Oaks lots had a vacant house that residents had been trying for six years to get on the city's demolition list. Through assistance from BRWA, the house was put on the demolition list and within three months was demolished. The community now has contiguous green space between Kennsington and Spruce. CPR proved to be a catalyst for this community and residents whom had never participated in community improvement efforts came outside and helped when they witnessed the efforts and progress of their neighbors. CPR helped to meld this mixed-race community as the minority white residents contributed and assisted in the efforts of the African-American residents for the first time. Marlborough's community faced a variety of different problems including vandalism, and lack of interest in participation. However, Marlborough was still able to repurpose three lots into pocket parks and neighborhood revitalization. Because of these large grants and the intricacies of these programs a new position, Project Manager, was developed and filled, to assist in the administration of the projects.”