St. James Winery to Support MO River Relief

St. James Winery is helping efforts to clean up the Missouri River by funding Missouri River Relief, a non-profit organization dedicated to river clean up. For each case of St. James Winery wines purchased at participating Missouri retail stores during August and September, St. James Winery will make a contribution to support Missouri River Relief’s work.

“As important as the Missouri River has been in Missouri’s history, it’s probably even more important to Missouri’s future. The cleaner the Missouri River waterway is, the better for all of us – farmers, outdoor enthusiasts, and businesses – who live and work along the river,” said Peter Hofherr, CEO of St. James Winery.

“We’re the last of seven states to have the Missouri River’s waters flowing through it,” said Hofherr, “and some of that water has traveled more than 2,300 miles by the time it empties into the Mississippi River in St. Louis. Unfortunately, a lot of garbage has been tossed into it along the way. Missouri River Relief provides hands-on help to get that trash out of the river.”

“It’s one thing to talk about how great the river is in a meeting room or a magazine article, but there’s no substitute for getting people out on the river in boats, getting their hands dirty and pulling a massive pile of trash out of the river,” said MRR Program Manager Steve Schnarr. “After the devastating floods of 2011, we are working very hard this year with our partners to organize Missouri River clean-ups in Omaha, St. Joseph and Kansas City, communities impacted by last year’s flooding. And we rely on donations to maintain and fuel our fleet of five boats, as well as provide work gloves, trash bags, water, and lunch for our volunteers.”

St. James Winery has supported clean-up activities on the Missouri River for several years as a sponsor of Race to the Dome, a charity canoe/kayak race that helps fund Missouri River Relief.

Becoming part of St. James Winery’s efforts to support Missouri River clean-up efforts is as simple as purchasing a bottle of St. James Winery wines at any participating retail store in Missouri during the months of August and September. St. James Winery will give Missouri River Relief $1 per case of wine sold.

About St. James Winery
St. James Winery is the largest and most awarded winery in Missouri. Founded by the Hofherr family in 1970, St. James Winery celebrates more than 40 years as a family owned and operated winery. St. James Winery’s award-winning wines are sold in stores throughout the Midwest and the South. St. James Winery is online at www.stjameswinery.com.

About Missouri River Relief
Missouri River Relief is a grassroots volunteer and equipment-based non-profit dedicated to connecting communities to the Missouri River through hands-on, on-the-river clean-ups and river education. Since their first Missouri River clean-up in, they’ve hosted 91 river clean-ups bringing 16,541 volunteers to the river to remove 676 tons of trash (over one million pounds!) from the river and its banks in 22 communities. Find Missouri River Relief online at www.riverrelief.org.