Haw River Assembly Plans 36th Annual Clean-Up-A-Thon March 21 to Protect Watershed

The Haw River Assembly has scheduled its 36th annual Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon for Saturday, March 21, 2026, a watershed-wide volunteer mobilization that organizers say will bring people to the Haw River and local creeks to remove trash and debris. The event is listed by the North Carolina Conservation Network as drawing volunteers from across eight counties, and the original event notice specifically notes participation that includes parts of Alamance County.

Team registration for the Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon is open now through March 15, and event pages repeat the warning that sites and supplies are limited. The Haw River Assembly references a 2026 REGISTRATION FORM and instructs individuals who want to join existing teams or participate solo to contact events@hawriver.org. The event listings also include the repeated call, "Team registration is open now through March 15!"

Organizers frame the Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon as both an awareness campaign and a fundraiser. The Haw River Assembly writes, "The Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon isn’t just a clean up event, it’s also a fundraiser to support our clean up and advocacy efforts throughout the year." The HRA site further describes the event this way: "The Haw River Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon is our annual clean‑up event that has been raising watershed-wide awareness about the impacts of our consumption habits and bringing people together at the river and local creeks!"

Haw River Assembly points to concrete results from the 35th annual event on March 22, 2025: "we had over 346 volunteers who retrieved 312 bags of trash and 54 tires from streams and creeks in the Haw River Watershed." Those totals are cited by HRA as the baseline organizers hope to build on for the 2026 effort, which will again focus volunteer work on streambanks, lakes, and river access areas.

The Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon traditionally enlists neighborhoods, civic groups, businesses and faith communities across multiple counties. The original announcement includes the phrase, "…enlists neighborhoods, civic groups, businesses and faith communities across multiple counties, including parts of Alamance County, to remove t" and concludes mid-sentence in that posting, while other listings explicitly describe volunteers removing trash and debris from streambanks and river access points.

Haw River Assembly is seeking sponsors and donors to underwrite the March 21 effort and to support year-round cleanup and advocacy. Sponsorship levels listed by HRA include Clean Up Champion at $2,500 and up, Eco Enforcer at $1,500 to $2,499, Green Guardian at $1,000 to $1,499, Pollution Punisher at $500 to $999, and Debris Destroyer at $200 to $499; donations under $200 are recognized on the Clean‑Up‑A‑Thon Donor Roll. Organizers direct questions about registration, sponsorship, or volunteer placement to events@hawriver.org and note that limited sites and supplies make an early registration advisable ahead of the March 15 deadline.