Support OVEC on #Giving Tuesday
As 2014 draws to a close, we here at OVEC are reflecting on our achievements  and challenges of the past year. We are especially grateful to all our volunteers and supporters. You make it possible for us to work together to protect our air, land, water and the places we love.

Keep us working strong in 2015 by donating to OVEC today, #GivingTuesday. Our 2014 work will roll right over into the new year.

For instance, our response to the January 9 coal-related chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water supply of 300,000 people living in central West Virginia is still ongoing. As the emergency unfolded, we went into overdrive to help form the WV Clean Water Hub to deliver water and other needed supplies. We also connected affected residents with journalists to garner nationwide exposure, and helped organize rallies (one march featured in photo below) and meetings where citizens could hold politicians and regulators accountable. In response to citizen outcry, the legislature passed Senate Bill 373, which imposes the first-ever regulation of above-ground storage tanks.

Now, we are involved in plans to mark the one-year anniversary of the chemical spill and efforts to keep people mobilized in defending our water during the 2014 Legislative Session. Please save these dates in 2015 and plan to join us in Charleston, WV: January 9 – workshops and a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of the chemical leak; January 14 – make your water-defending presence known at the State Capitol during the governor’s State-of-the-State address; January 17: Water Unites Us Rally at the WV State Capitol. Watch OVEC’s event calendar page for details.

To learn more about our work in 2014, you can review our newsletters online. You can make certain OVEC is in good shape to tackle the challenges we’ll meet in 2015 by donating to us today, #Giving Tuesday. Your tax-deductible donation is not just an endorsement of our work — it makes our work possible. (If you don’t want to use a credit card to donate you can use PayPal or snail-mail us a check:

OVEC
PO Box 6753
Huntington, WV 25773-6753

If you are on Twitter and / or Facebook, please help spread the word about supporting OVEC this #GivingTuesday.

The staff at OVEC is truly grateful for your support. We extend our wishes for a love, laughter and beauty-filled holiday season to you all!

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Help Out with Grassroots Report on MTR and Obama Administration
We’re nearing the end of 2014 and another year has passed without significant action on mountaintop removal coal mining from the Obama Administration.

That’s why The Alliance for Appalachia (made up of regional citizens groups including OVEC) has just released a Grassroots Citizen’s Report on mountaintop removal. In the report we lay out the stakes for the administration and tell them that the time for action is now.

Support us by contacting the administration and demanding action today!

Learn more about the report and why we need you to take action here.

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Gifts with a Sense of Purpose
As reporter Dave Lavender notes: ‘Tis the season for musical giving. Luckily, an anonymous donor gave us some gorgeous guitars to offer to guitar aficionados.

We have other gift ideas, too, more gifts that give back. For instance, consider a gift-membership in OVEC (for details, e-mail maryanne@ohvec.org), or gifts of OVEC merchandise. If you didn’t know about Shannon Bell’s book, it would be a great gift for your friends who care about West Virginians making a difference.

And while we encourage one another to shop at locally-owned stores, such as Taylor Books in Charleston or The Wild Ramp in Huntington, we may succumb to shopping online. If you end up using Amazon, you can at least give a little bit to a good cause. Log into Amazon Smile and search for “Ohio River.” Choose “Ohio River Valley Environmental Coalition, Inc.” from the drop-down menu (yes, that’s the full name of OVEC — no wonder we prefer our acronym).

When you make an eligible purchase, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to OVEC (as long as you choose us as your charitable organization of choice, and as long
as you enter amazon via smile.amazon.com). There’s no price increase for you.

And remember, if you shop at Kroger, use your Kroger Community Rewards card that you’ve linked to OVEC.

Notice:  To keep your Kroger Plus card tied to OVEC in the Community Rewards program, you have to renew annually. Go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com to renew / relink your card. If you have any trouble, you can call 800-576-4377for help.

When looking for us, this information will be useful:

• Organization Name: OVEC*Ohio River Valley Environmental Coalition
• Organization Number: 82772

Thank you so much for your continued support!

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In This Alert

Support OVEC
on #Giving Tuesday

Help Out with Grassroots Report on MTR and Obama Administration

Gifts with a Sense of Purpose