Help Friends Of The Wissahickon Win $100,000

CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA – The Friends of the Wissahickon are in the running for some seriously big bucks. Through the NRG Gives program, the group could win $100,000 to keep Wissahickon Valley Park beautiful and healthy.

The Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) is one of three non profit finalists in the running for the $100,000.

You can help FOW win the money by voting for the group as often as you like through May 19.

Vote for FOW online here now.

Should FOW not receive the most votes, it can still win $10,000 if it takes second place and $5,000 for third place.

The winner will be announced May 24.

FOW works to preserve the natural beauty and wildness of Wissahickon Valley Park's 1,800 acre expanse.

"As stewards of this precious natural resource we are under tremendous pressure to respond quickly, effectively and thoughtfully to both short and long-term threats to the park, from invasive plant species to watershed issues," Maura McCarthy, FOW’s executive director, said in a statement. "In this era of shrinking public funding, the NRG Gives grant would increase FOW’s capacity to serve the most pressing needs of the park, its users and the city of Philadelphia at large."

FOW’s professional staff and dedicated volunteers work continuously with a range of experts to preserve and restore this natural landscape while mitigating the erosion that threatens the park and stormwater runoff affecting the Wissahickon Creek, which provides drinking water for 350,000 Philadelphians.

The NRG Gives program was introduced in 2016 to expand the company’s community outreach across Pennsylvania and empower the public to help support selected community nonprofits, according to a pres lease.

NRG employees nominate a wide selection of organizations, which are narrowed to three finalists and the public votes for the nonprofit of their choice, the press release states.

Image via Geoff Alexander, Flickr Commons