COLUMBIA – The Missouri River Relief received a $91,000 grant through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Education Grants Program.

The Missouri River Relief is one of 35 national organizations that received a portion of the EPA’s $3.3 million education program. Barrow said more than 400 organizations applied.

Director of the Missouri River Relief Jeff Barrow said the organization wants to build a “network of river actions teams.”

“We only have so much resources, we can only do so much,” Barrow said. “So we want to be a communications hub and a convener for other groups to get together and work together.”

He said the organization would also like to host workshops and summer camps.

On EPA’s website, it’s stated that the money will go toward the River Relief, Inc. program.

“Through this project by River Relief, Inc., communities along the lower Missouri become more actively involved in stewardship of the Missouri River,” the website stated. “River Relief, Inc., assesses the community’s current stewardship activities, and solicits ideas and finding opportunities for increasing involvement.”

The project provides skills, training and resources for communities to increase and sustain river stewardship, according to the website.

Barrow said $27,000 of the grant will be divided up into “sub-grants” through the Missouri River Relief.

“We are going to have a grant process and actually funnel money to other groups so they can do cleanups or restoration activities or whatever they can do that would be a benefit to the community,” Barrow said.

Barrow said the Missouri River is important to maintain because it’s the source of drinking water for 43 percent of Missourians. Eight power plants use the Missouri River to cool their systems and 80 percent of the sand used in concrete is from the bottom of the river.