An annual river trip for a non-profit organization is heading down the Raccoon River this week.

Iowa Project AWARE  (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition) Co-organizer Rebecca Kauten says the nearly week-long trip started yesterday with a meet and greet and then today and tomorrow, the groups will be traveling on the river in Greene County. The specific stops will be at Henderson Park and head just over eight miles to Squirrel Hollow Park on Monday. Tuesday’s route is from Squirrel Hollow Park to the Dawson river access.

Wednesday, they are expected to go from Dawson to the Perry river access, followed by going from Redfield to Earlham Thursday, before ending the trip in Van Meter on Friday. Kauten talks about what the over 200 volunteers will be doing on the river.

“The goal is to put about 220 people on mostly canoe, a few kayaks too, and paddle what they can of the river. Ideally, remove as much trash as we can, but also gives people a fairly well rounded experience of what it’s like to paddle an Iowa river. The goal is not only to remove the trash, but also educate people as we travel throughout the week about the local history, the culture, the geology, some of the environmental and physical science that is related to this particular watershed.”

Iowa Project AWARE is a non-profit organization that chooses a different Iowa river every year.