Source: JWR Website
(DLS) - Just Within Reach (JWR) and Nick Carter's Ocean Campaign (NCOC) have decided to end both foundations which started back in 2001. Below is the "final thank you" which can be viewed at the JWR website.
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Dear Friends and Colleagues:
When we founded Just Within Reach in 2001, we saw ourselves as just four 'kids from the sticks' that had a shared vision to do something good for our struggling planet. We merely wanted to team up and use our experience and know-how to do our part to improve the health of the Earth, and in some way, influence others to become involved at the grassroots level. It was our goal to serve as a resource to young people and their families in order to build awareness for environmental issues.
Simply put, we never imagined the success we'd achieve in four short years. Because of your kindness and steadfast support, our vision was realized. You, and the countless other people we met along the way, inspired us to do the best we could with the tools we were given.
We exposed 1. 4 million concert goers to environmental messages from the stage and in the halls of concert venues across the U.S. and Canada. Together, we helped establish the Kentucky Riverkeeper that is working to protect the Bluegrass State's waterways. We joined the Earth Conservation Corps and the National Geographic Society to produce an environmental video about preserving public lands - a video that was distributed to 5,000 5th Grade classes throughout the U.S. to reach nearly two million students. We provided environmental science and marine studies scholarships for 19 college students. We took our concerns all the way to Washington, D.C. where we urged leaders to enforce the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws for our generation and those yet to come. Perhaps our most celebrated accomplishment was working with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Waterkeeper Alliance to take action against the pollution and social injustice imposed by mountaintop removal mining for coal, and getting the coal issue placed on the priorities list of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
While we will continue to serve as advocates for the Earth, we have agreed to refocus our energy by getting directly involved with better established organizations such as NRDC and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Therefore, it is with mixed emotions that Just Within Reach and Nick Carter's Oceans Campaign say 'Good-bye'. JWR and its affiliate NCOC have been dissolved and remaining funds have been donated to our environmental partners that continue to make great strides for a healthier world.
We could not have had a positive impact without the financial and moral support of our individual donors, fundraising groups and numerous colleagues. We are indebted to you. You probably will never realize just how much your care, generosity and plain ol' hard work have meant to us.
We wish we could list each and every person, donor, organization and partner below; for each person, from the eldest to the youngest aspiring advocate, has played an important role in our mission. In closing, we encourage you to 'keep up the fight', continue to support our partner organizations and do your part to improve things in your own backyard. We hope you will live the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid admirer of natural history and nature's beauty --
'Do what you can, with what you have, where you are'.
Thank you again for being a part of the Just Within Reach family. May all of our children one day know the true meaning of 'progress and the planet in harmony'.
Much peace,
Kevin and Kristin Richardson
Jim and Vicki Hanna
Founders
Our warmest regards and thanks to our Executive Board members, Scholarship Committee members and Volunteers
Our gratitude to our greatest contributing organizations
Clear Channel
Mature Fan Club
A Lasting World
BP Foundation
Special thanks to Backstreet Boys, Inc.
Howie Dorough and the Dorough Lupus Foundation
Brian Littrell and the Healthy Hearts Club for Kids
AJ McLean and the JNN Foundation
Immeasurable love and thanks to our families and friends
who have picked us up and dusted us off time and again
Our best wishes and admiration to our Dynamic 'Can Do' Event Team
Michelle and Phil Collins, Lauren Hoeflich, Hazel Malek and Kathryn Novak
'We couldn't have done it without you - Thanks to
Marty Hom, tour manager
Tim Krieg, road manager
Carol Dodds, tour video producer
Carlos Cardenas, security
The Firm
Azoff Music Management
Mitch Schneider Organization
JIVE Records
MTV
Our most grateful appreciation and sincere thanks to
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert Nixon and the Earth Conservation Corps
Nancy Golden and Liana Schwartz of NRDC
Kelli McGee, formerly of American Oceans Campaign
Richard Marx
Ed Begley, Jr.
Erin Brockovich-Ellis
We?d like to express our gratitude to each and every amazing environmental organization and foundation with which we had the privilege to work, while paying special thanks to our partners at
Natural Resources Defense Council
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Waterkeeper Alliance
National Geographic Society
Oceana
Southwings
Kentucky Riverkeeper
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Sierra Club
The Ocean Conservancy - Florida
Earth Communications Office
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center