Piggly Wiggly donates to Clean Water Alabama

By Tammy Leytham 

Clean Water Alabama, a Baldwin County-based water preservation nonprofit group, recently received a $10,000 donation from local Piggly Wiggly stores and owner Danny Manning.

“We’re so grateful to Danny Manning and Piggly Wiggly for this generous donation,” CWA President John Manelos said. “Clean Water Alabama has plans for best use of this funding to educate residents and businesses alike across our area and state about the need for preserving our beautiful waters and ways to make them cleaner and better.” 

The group has started a focus on educating children through its creation of two books that teach kids about water conservation and preservation: a coloring book and an activities book that will be provided at no charge in various retail locations, restaurants, medical offices and other spaces.

“This generous donation helps take care of the costs of our kids’ books project that teaches our children about how important our waters are here and what they can do to help keep them clean and safe for everyone,” Manelos said.

Manelos added while he was grateful and overwhelmed by the substantial donation from Manning and the Piggly Wiggly stores, he was not at all surprised by the generosity, frequently noted throughout the community. 

Manelos said remaining donation funds will be used for other operational activities, including a push in the Alabama Legislature’s upcoming session for a bill to address issues with problematic septic tanks near bodies of water. The bill will be sponsored by Rep. Joe Faust, R-Fairhope.

“We want to do for septic tanks what the Strengthen Alabama Homes program did for roofs in our area,” Manelos said.

The legislation will use Restore Act money to give grants to people who live near streams and waterways to help fix or replace malfunctioning or damaged septic tanks or connect to existing nearby sewer systems.

“By doing that, we help avoid more runoff and more sewage finding its way into our waters and prevent further damage before it can start,” Manelos said.

Clean Water Alabama’s mission is to engage Alabama citizens to take necessary actions to ensure that water resources — rivers, streams, lakes, bays and coasts — are protected from items that make them unsafe to its citizens and the plant and animal life that live within and around them. For more information on Clean Water Alabama, visit CleanWaterAlabama.com.

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