Southern Georgia Black Chambers welcomes WWALS Watershed Coalition 2023-04-27

Here’s what they wrote:

We are excited to welcome our new member, WWALS Watershed Coalition, to the Southern Georgia Black Chambers! Their vision is to promote a healthy watershed with clean water that is swimmable, fishable, and drinkable. WWALS is an educational nonprofit charity that advocates for the conservation and stewardship of various river watersheds throughout South Georgia and North Florida. Join us in supporting WWALS and their efforts towards environmental monitoring and citizen activities in the area. Learn more about WWALS Watershed Coalition is Suwannee Riverkeeper and their work at www.wwals.net.

[Southern Georgia Black Chambers welcomes WWALS]
Southern Georgia Black Chambers welcomes WWALS

“Thank You! We are excited to join and work on projects together,” wrote WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman.

And please come to Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 11AM to 3 PM, Saturday, June 17, 2023, for food, activities for children, and boating with stunt adults!
https://wwals.net/?p=61855

[Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021]
Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021

More about Southern Georgia Black Chambers, “Serving 18 Counties Across South Georgia as the Voice for Black Business”:
https://www.sgablackchambers.org/
https://www.facebook.com/sgablackchambers

SGBC Mission:

The Southern Georgia Black Chambers is a non-profit organization consisting of individuals engaging in Business, Community, and Government activities. Our mission is to achieve the objectives of promoting business and community growth and development by educating the black business community in the Southern Region of the Georgia Coalition of Black Chambers and representing them in the city, county, state, and national legislative and political affairs; promoting economic programs designed to strengthen and expand the income potential of all business within the region of Southern Georgia; promoting programs of civic, social and cultural nature which are designed to increase the functional and aesthetic values of the community; and discovering and correcting abuses which prevent the promotion of business expansion and community growth.

[Southern Georgia Black Chamber Region]
Southern Georgia Black Chamber Region

SGBC Region:

Our 18-county region is home to 18 colleges and university campuses, including a major state university in Valdosta. With excellent access to the ports, rail, and interstates, agriculture and manufacturing are economic drivers within a diverse industry base. More than 413, 000 people call Region 11 home. The area’s largest employers include Moody Air Force Base, South Georgia Medical Center, Valdosta State University, and Mayo Clinic Health System.

Anchored by Valdosta, the region has a strong sense of place as seen through its historic small towns, four state parks, symphony, theater, scenic rivers, and of course, North America’s largest “black water” swamp, the Okefenokee.

—Georgia Department of Economic Development (georgia.org)

The SGBC region is almost identical to the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia. It includes Brooks, Lowndes, Lanier, Echols, Clinch, Ware, Charlton, Brantley, Atkinson, Berrien, Cook, Tift, Turner, Irwin, Ben Hill, and Coffee Counties. It also incudes Pierce and Bacon Counties, which are not in the Suwannee River Basin, and it does not include Thomas, Colquitt, Crisp, Dooly, or Wilcox Counties, parts of which are in the Suwannee River Basin.

WWALS Statement on Environmental Justice:
https://wwals.net/?p=52690

Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. protect the Suwannee River Basin for the sake of every person who visits or lives here. Clean water is essential to everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, beliefs, politics, or anything else. However, during the course of our work opposing the Sabal Trail methane pipeline and other advocacy, it became clear that minorities and economically disadvantaged people will disproportionately experience negative effects. We continue to work against such environmental injustice across the entire Suwannee River Basin in dozens of counties in Georgia and Florida. Valuing all the watershed’s inhabitants is entirely compatible with having added concern for those facing added danger.

We seek to listen and learn from our colleagues and neighbors. We do not pretend to be experts on racial issues. Nevertheless, we promote clean water to ensure healthy communities, and we are concerned about all members of those communities: especially the most vulnerable. We stand against racism and injustice in any form.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/