Give Grandly on May 8th to support GRIP

Saturday, May 8 is Give Grandly! —a 24-hour local community-giving marathon to support 58 nonprofit organizations in southwest New Mexico.

While we are asking our community to celebrate philanthropy through a donation to protect our community health and environment, we’d also like to update you on some of GRIP’s recent successes.

• Through our Responsible Mining Program, we pressured state agencies and Freeport-McMoRan to finalize the significantly outdated reclamation plans and financial assurance for the Chino, Cobre and Tyrone mines. With the recent completion of the Tyrone permitting process, these updated plans carry $435.2 million in financial assurance for cleanup and reclamation of the three mines, protecting surface and groundwater, air quality, and community health. Additionally, GRIP’s legal and advocacy efforts made water treatment mandatory at Chino mine closure, saving 9,000 acre-feet of clean groundwater annually.

• With our partners in the Gila Conservation Coalition, we defeated the harmful Gila River diversion project after a 15+ year fight. Thanks to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signature on House Bill 200 this past legislative session, state law now prohibits expenditure of the remaining $80 million in Arizona Water Settlements Act funding on a Gila River diversion and, as a consequence, the NM CAP Entity has been defunded by the Interstate Stream Commission. We are now focused on ensuring that funding is allocated to priority water projects that build water supply security for southwest New Mexico.

• Working with our partners in the Peaceful Gila Skies coalition, we blocked the Holloman Air Force Base proposal to expand its F-16 pilot training airspace over the Gila. Strong community opposition was instrumental in forcing the Air Force to choose airspace expansion in southeast New Mexico rather than over the Gila and Aldo Leopold wilderness areas.

Your support on May 8th is an investment in clean air, land and water and protection of our unique natural resources, such as the wild Gila River and our public lands.

Give Grandly donations to GRIP can be made online at www.givegrandly.org from now through May 22nd.

You can also donate in person at Give Grandly booths at the Silver City Farmers’ Market on Pope Street or the Makers’ Market at MainStreet Plaza off Bullard from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm—or donate online all day long at www.givegrandly.org. All donations received by 2:00 pm on the day of the event will be entered to win raffle prizes donated by local organizations and businesses. Tune in to the Give Grandly! Live Broadcast from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm on GMCR/KURU 89.1 FM or gmcr.org.

Your generosity will have an immediate and lasting impact on our community health, environment and natural resources for years to come!

Thank you so much for your continued support!