Elizabeth Meloy’s love of the great outdoors is due in large part to her father, an avid outdoorsman, who first introduced her to the mountains and the tributaries that ran through her home state of California.   

“Dad used to take me backpacking when I was really young,” Elizabeth shares. “But fishing was always present. In fact, he taught me how to fish. It was bonding time that I will always remember.”

Many years and many fishing trips later, Elizabeth moved to Atlanta to take a regional position with Chick-fil-A.  A year earlier she had been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and had undergone chemotherapy treatment. The toll her diagnosis had taken on her both physically and mentally left her craving a deeper connection to the outdoors. 

One afternoon when out exploring her new home, she found the Paces Mill park unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area – her first interaction with the Chattahoochee River. That day, Department of Natural Resources biologist Sarah Baker was out with her team doing work on the river. Elizabeth approached the team of scientists and started learning more about the beautiful waterway in front of her. 

“After that visit to the river, I found myself at the Orvis Atlanta store buying flies for fishing my new home waters,” she said. “It was there that my introduction to CRK was reaffirmed through the Quality Hooch campaign that was marketed throughout the retail store. But my connection to the Chattahoochee didn’t really deepen until I started meeting people in the fly fishing and environmental communities.” 

In late 2020, Elizabeth was introduced to Becca Klein, a longtime staff member of CRK. “Becca had been teaching the women’s’ fly fishing education courses with Orvis and had a passion about her for the Chattahoochee River and the work that Chattahoochee Riverkeeper was doing to protect it,” she said. “We started spending more time together on the river with a fly rod in hand and I started to learn more about why CRK’s work was so essential to the health of our waterways.” 

Elizabeth shares how shocked she was at the amount of trash she was seeing at her feet every time she stepped into the river, and credits CRK’s Trash-Free Chattahoochee program as the stepping stone to her involvement with the organization. She knew she wanted to give back and to learn more. Elizabeth was given that chance when she was invited to be a river guide for the annual Becca Sue Klein All Kids Fish event that fall.  

Impressed with CRK’s efforts to engage marginalized youth in a sport not traditionally accessible to the economically disadvantaged, Elizabeth wanted to make sure this opportunity to not only learn about fly fishing, but how to be a good steward of our natural resources would be offered to all children in decades to come. Elizabeth soon became a member of CRK’s Legacy Society, and one of the first members of the Founders Circle.  

“Everyone relies on water,” says Elizabeth. “We are all connected, and there is a need to protect our natural resources on every level. For the Chattahoochee River, CRK is the nonprofit to accomplish this very important task.” 

Con un corazón cálido y un espíritu fuerte, Bonnie Jackson fue una guerrera por hacer el bien y ayudar a los demás. Incluso en su último año, mientras luchaba contra el cáncer con firme determinación, Bonnie nunca dejó de dar y proveer para las personas que luchaban y para los lugares especiales que necesitaban ayuda: animales, amigos, familia, ríos, montañas y la costa. Durante casi cuarenta años, Bonnie se dedicó a cuidar el entorno natural de Georgia, mientras usaba sus diversos talentos para fortalecer organizaciones sin fines de lucro, incluida Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

Bonnie podía hacer cualquier cosa, desde organizar y atender viajes de aventuras al aire libre hasta contabilidad financiera, administrar sistemas de tecnología de la información, coordinar voluntarios y reparar casi cualquier cosa que se rompiera. Se destacó en todo lo que logró, sin importar el tamaño de la tarea. Profundamente leal a sus amigos y colegas, Bonnie siempre estuvo dispuesta a desempeñarse más allá del llamado del deber. En un evento conmemorativo en 2021, sus cenizas se esparcieron en las aguas claras y fluidas del río Chattahoochee: la vía fluvial que se benefició de sus incansables esfuerzos.  

Bonnie entendió el valor y la importancia de las donaciones planificadas para las organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Estaba decidida a proporcionar un regalo heredado a Chattahoochee Riverkeeper que garantizaría la continuidad de nuestro trabajo en el futuro, más allá de su vida; también esperaba inspirar a otros a hacer contribuciones similares. El esposo de Bonnie, Mike, mantiene vivo el legado y la memoria de Bonnie con una generosa promesa a Chattahoochee Riverkeeper por la cantidad de $100,000. En honor a todo lo que hizo por nuestra organización y por muchas otras, hemos establecido el Premio Bonnie Jackson al Voluntario del Año.