Archer Daniels Midland Gives $325,000 To Living Lands & Waters

The Waterways Journal
7 March 2011

Archer Daniels Midland Company, an agricultural conglomerate based in Decatur, Ill., announced on February 24 a donation of $325,000 to Living Lands & Waters, a nonprofit organization that promotes the health and vitality of the nation's inland waterways. The donation is being made through ADM Cares, the company's social-investment program.

ADM's donation includes $125,000 to support ongoing river cleanup and restoration projects and $200,000 to expand the organization's floating classroom program. The floating classroom, a barge made from materials reclaimed from the river and from other renewable materials, serves as a facility for students and teachers to study environmental issues associated with large rivers. The mobile class-room will visit several states each year along the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio rivers.

Royce Wilken, president of ADM subsidiary American River Transportation Company, said, "Helping clean up the Mississippi River is important to the 18 million people who depend on the river for drinking water. It's also important to ADM, because we depend on the U.S. waterways to ship grain from American farms to where it's needed around the world."

Volunteer Time

"Beyond our financial support, ADM employees have also dedicated thousands of volunteer hours to cleaning the Mississippi River and other major U.S. waterways in collaboration with Living Lands & Waters," Wilken added.

"ADM has been a valued partner of Living Lands & Waters since 2004," said Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands & Waters. "In addition to the financial support that helps us operate, we are thankful for the hard work and enthusiasm of the hundreds of ADM employees who have given their time to help with our river cleanups throughout the years."

Jennifer Ballinger, manager, ADM Cares, said, "Education is crucial to the preservation of our great river system and all natural resources. Through the floating classroom project, Living Lands & Waters reaches hundreds of high school students every year, giving them a memorable, personal encounter that we hope will inspire future stewardship and long-term preservation of our nations waterways."

ADM Cares is a corporate social-investment program that directs up to 1 percent of ADM's pretax profits to various causes. The program has three areas of focus: supporting the responsible development of agriculture, improving the quality of life in ADM communities, and fostering employee giving and volunteer activities.

Living Lands & Waters, a 501 (c) (3) environmental organization founded in 1998 and headquartered in East Moline, Ill., conducts a variety of initiatives including Community River Cleanups, Big River Educational Workshops, the MillionTrees Project, the Riverbottom Forest Restoration Project, and Adopt-a-River Mile.