Ohio River Foundation News & Updates

As the year draws to a close and we prepare to head into our 25th anniversary year, we’re looking back on some of our 2024 accomplishments.

Ohio River Foundation (ORF) presented its seventh annual Cincinnati Coffee Festival at the iconic Cincinnati Music Hall this past October. The event raised more than $100,000 to support ORF’s impactful education, restoration, and advocacy programs to fulfill our mission to protect and improve the ecology in the Ohio River watershed, a source of drinking water for millions of people.

Ohio River Foundation was able to plant several native trees in Kingswood Park in Deerfield Township thanks to the generosity of Ameritas and their volunteers. Ameritas donated a $5,000 grant and 23 volunteers attended a special volunteer day to plant 32 trees.

Join us on Saturday, 9/14 for TWO great opportunities to learn about some of the most marvelous mollusks living right in our backyards. The Ohio River Watershed is home to some of the highest diversity of freshwater mussels in the world, yet most people are unaware of these amazing animals living inconspicuously in many of our local waterways!

This month ORF’s team of educators joined the Hamilton County Conservation District on Mill Creek to collect, identify, and learn about the fish living there.

This year Ohio River Foundation (ORF) has been able to expand its habitat restoration work thanks to $100,000 in funding for its Invasive Species Removal Strike Force (ISRSF) activities in Greater Cincinnati. This program allows ORF to partner with additional volunteer groups and expand its service area to protect additional public spaces.

This summer 13 greater Cincinnati area high school students participated in the Ohio River Conservation Course, an intensive week-long course about aquatic science and watershed conservation presented by  Ohio River Foundation (ORF), Foundation for Ohio River Education (FORE), Northern Kentucky Sanitation District No. 1 (SD1), and Thomas More University Biological Field Station (TMU). 

The Cincinnati Coffee Festival is returning to the beautiful ballroom at Cincinnati Music Hall this fall. The popular annual festival is set to take place Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27. Tickets are on sale now.

The decision, which overturns Chevron v. NRDC and decades of precedent, will have far-reaching implications by weakening the ability of any federal agency, regardless of political administration, to adopt regulations that are protective of public health and safety, the environment, and financial security.

Ohio River Foundation was able to raise more than $21,000 at its annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Friday, April 19 at the Woodward Theater. The Festival sold out with 150 people in attendance. Proceeds from the event will support ORF’s exciting education, restoration, and advocacy programs that fulfill its mission to protect and improve the water quality in the Ohio River Watershed, a source of drinking water to millions of people.

The following is a list of Ohio River Foundation’s favorite spots to safely and easily take kids creeking around the greater Cincinnati region.

Ohio River Foundation (ORF) has received almost $100,000 in funding for its Invasive Species Removal Strike Force (ISRSF) activities in Greater Cincinnati. Corporate volunteers from throughout Greater Cincinnati participate in hands-on restoration work to remove invasive species and, in some cases, plant native trees in removal areas. Funding for this program is provided in part by The Duke Energy Foundation, L.L. Nippert Charitable Foundation, and The H.B., E.W., and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, N.A., Trustee.