River's Way

08/21/2026

🪻 Last Chance for River’s Way Flowers! 🪻

Join us this Saturday, August 22nd, from 8 AM–12 PM at the Bristol Farmers Market for the final opportunity to get flower bouquets at the market this summer! 💐

Our River’s Way staff and adults with differing abilities have grown, cared for, harvested, and arranged these beautiful flowers from our community gardens. 🌱

💐 Small Bouquet— $10
💐 Large Bouquet— $20

100% of proceeds support our gardening program, helping create opportunities to garden, learn, contribute, and grow.

📍 Downtown Bristol Farmers Market
🗓️ Saturday, August 22nd | 8 AM–12 PM

🌸 Come get your flowers before they’re gone!

08/14/2026

☀️ Summer Giving at River’s Way ☀️

This summer has been full of friendship, connection, and belonging! From gardening and exercise to Camp Friendship and connecting with local youth, our 25 young adults with differing abilities have had a summer full of meaningful experiences. Along the way, they’ve built friendships, strengthened connections, and grown together as a community. 🌱🫶

Your support helps make these opportunities possible. Please consider making a gift to River’s Way and help us continue strengthening a community where everyone belongs. 💙

📣 Read more about our summer: https://riversway.dm.networkforgood.com/emails/sample-bce911f6-fa29-44c3-9a91-89ab01f2a769

💙 Give to River’s Way: www.tinyurl.com/GIVE2RW

07/10/2026

07/10/2026

🪻Stop by and see River’s Way at the Bristol Farmers Market!🪻

River’s Way staff and adults from our programs will be at the Bristol Farmers Market in downtown Bristol on Saturdays from 8am - 12 noon in the months of July and August with fresh, hand-tied bouquets from our community gardens.

These flowers have been grown, cared for, harvested, and arranged by people with differing abilities in our programs. Every bouquet represents time outside, meaningful work, new skills learned, and the joy of growing something beautiful for the community.

Bouquets are available for suggested donations of:

💐 $10 for a small bouquet
💐 $20 for a large bouquet

We have many different varieties of flowers to choose from, and 100% of the proceeds go directly back into our gardening program. Your support helps River’s Way continue providing opportunities for high school students and adults with differing abilities to get outside, garden, learn, contribute, and grow.

Come talk with us, learn more about River’s Way, and take home some beautiful locally grown flowers. We’d love to see you there!

📍 Bristol Farmers Market, Downtown Bristol
🕗 Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon

06/08/2026

Special event to honor S H A M A S.
PLEASE SHARE..he’s excited!!
I’ve gotten some messages asking if I know how Shamas Dougherty is doing since he’s not been out and about recently.

So, I reached out to his sister to find out!

“How special to know that people do miss seeing him around town,” Ronan King told me.
“Shamas has had to retire from the YMCA after 60 years of service, so he is here at home and is very happy and doing well. He has developed a balance issue. He can walk well, but needs someone beside him so he doesn’t get off-balance and fall.”

Ronan also shared with me that there’s going to be a special salute to him!!
👇👇👇

It is official! You can say hi to Shamas during the Tennessee High and Virginia High tire flip next Friday, June 12.

They will flip the tire down State Street and end right there at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and State Street.

They stop at the light before you get to the train station or the Bristol sign.

Shamas will be right there on State Street at the end of the Tri Star Spine and Sports chiropractic parking lot at 126 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The actual tire flip starts at 6 PM, but Shamas will be there early and is hoping people will stop by to see him!! He’s so excited! PLEASE SHARE!

06/07/2026

Summer programs have started STRONG 🌞😎💥

The first week of summer at River's Way was packed full of gardening, walking programs with local youth groups, goal setting, and exercise at the YMCA of Bristol.

We wrapped it up by spending Friday at Camp Friendship with a boat ride and walking with the campers!

We have officially kicked off our Summer Giving Campaign that lasts the month of June. If you like what you see, consider a gift to River's Way that allows us to provide these opportunities at no cost (FREE) to young adults with differing abilities and their families.

It's donors and supporters like YOU that allow us to continue our work with these amazing individuals.

Visit the www.tinyurl.com/GIVE2RW to GIVE TODAY🙏🏻

06/04/2026

River’s Way is hiring!

We are looking for a warm, dependable, energetic Program Coordinator to help lead programs for youth and young adults with differing abilities.

This is a full-time hourly position supporting River’s Way programs across the Bristol community, including school walking programs, YMCA fitness, gardening, summer programs, community events, respite weekends, and other meaningful activities.

The ideal candidate will have experience working with individuals with disabilities or differing abilities, enjoy leading active programs, communicate well, and have a heart for helping others grow.

Pay: $17–$20/hour, depending on experience
Hours: Approximately 30–40 hours/week
Requirements: Experience working with individuals with differing abilities, valid driver’s license, clean driving record, and ability to pass a background check

Full Job description: https://tinyurl.com/RWjob2026

To apply, send a resume to [email protected].

Help us create meaningful opportunities for youth and young adults with differing abilities to grow, contribute, and belong.

05/01/2026

On Saturday, April 25th, River’s Way spent a wonderful day at Emory & Henry College with a student-led volunteer group that planned a full day of activities. The day included icebreakers, games, creative crafts, a beautiful walk around campus, and lots of laughter along the way.

One special part of the day was setting small, personal goals around healthy eating at lunch — simple choices like drinking water, adding fruit or vegetables, watching portions, or skipping dessert. Almost everyone followed through on their goal, which was such a powerful reminder of what can happen when people are encouraged, supported, and given the freedom to choose for themselves.

Programs like this are a win for everyone: meaningful experiences for our participants, leadership opportunities for college students, and a much-needed day of respite for families.

Big thanks to the Emory & Henry students for making the day so special!

04/23/2026

Thank you so much Alpha Metallurgical Resources employees!

At the end of March, several members of our Bristol team spent a day volunteering with the River's Way organization. Together, we built and installed flower beds at the Viking Garden, cleared rocks and weeds, and prepared the soil for planting.

It was a rewarding day full of hard work and fun. Thank you to River’s Way for being such wonderful hosts and making the day so enjoyable! We’re grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact!