Friends of New River Gorge National River will host a BBQ and Bluegrass fundraiser on Saturday, July 29, from 2 to 5 p.m.

The event will be held at the Freight Depot located on 509 Commercial Street in Hinton. BBQ and Bluegrass will raise funds for local students to attend an overnight camp at New River Gorge National River’s Camp Brookside Environmental Education Center.

The National Park Service (NPS) re-opened the Camp Brookside Environmental Education Center in the spring of 2016 with the goal of creating a premiere destination for citizen science, research, and environmental education to create the next generation of supporters and advocates for public land. To date, the NPS has been dependent on grant and foundation funding to operate any overnight programs.

Friends has taken on Camp Brookside as its main fundraising focus and hopes to raise enough funding to support local area students attending the camp’s programs. Beth Fish, board member for Friends stated, “My favorite memories were made at camp as a child. It thrills me that other children will get the opportunity to experience it.”

The BBQ and Bluegrass event will take place in the historic downtown of Hinton and will showcase Bluegrass music from the Long Pont String Band and a barbecue dinner courtesy of Dickey’s Barbeque Pit of Beckley. Tickets are available online and may be purchased via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bbq-and-bluegrass-fundraiser-tickets-35465250519.

Friends of New River Gorge National River, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, charitable organization that provides valuable support to all three national parks of southern West Virginia. To learn more about Friends, or to become a member, visit www.friendsofnrgnr.org. Additional information on New River Gorge National River can be found by visiting www.nps.gov/neri.