Joe Kendall established
the Chautauqua Foundation in 1991 to protect Texas rivers and streams. The Foundation’s activities include a
river adoption program, river clean-ups, races, and festivals. In 1992, Joe founded the “Adopt The
Colorado River” program in cooperation with the Lower Colorado River
Authority. This highly
successful community awareness effort involves hundreds of participants in
numerous clean-up events along the Colorado River. In 1997, Joe extended the Foundation to include an outdoor
education program for students, creating the Texas River School. While
working as a kitchen manager for the Austin Independent School District, Joe
also realized a great need for nutritional education and included healthy
food choices in the Texas River School curriculum.
"A group of my
river buddies and I started the Chautauqua Foundation to help protect our
rivers. We found out that AISD didn't have an outdoor program because they
had lost the use of their campground facility. We offered to replace that
program with an outdoor experience for children that would get them out on
the river for a day of fun, learning and adventure. As a kitchen manager for
AISD, I also saw an important issue that could be hindering students’ ability
to do well in school - their eating habits. Only 1 percent of the kids in our
country eat a healthy, balanced diet, according to a government study
conducted in 1989-1991 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I started
thinking about my own eating patterns and realized that I always eat best
when I’m on the river. So I added a new twist to The Texas River School
curriculum - teach kids to make healthy food choices while preparing for an
outdoor canoeing adventure.”