Spartanburg Water provides grant support to Play.Advocate.Live Well. (PAL)
February 24, 2026
Grant will help fund a new Junior PAL Program focused on watershed ecology education
Play.Advocate.Live Well. (PAL) was recently awarded a grant for $8,000 by Spartanburg Water to assist with PAL’s plan to enhance the Daniel Morgan Trail System, encouraging the community to use and engage in the Daniel Morgan Trail System.
Spartanburg Water presented PAL with a check for the grant in January, which represented equal contributions from both the Commission of Public Works of the City of Spartanburg and the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District Commission.
“The trail system that we have here in Spartanburg is such a wonderful and unique gift,” said John Montgomery, Chairman of the Commission of Public Works of the City of Spartanburg. “We are glad to partner with PAL to ensure the continued vitality of the trail system through a shared commitment to improving our watershed and educating future generations about one of our community’s greatest resources – drinking water.”
PAL will use the grant funding to develop a Junior PAL Program that is focused on connecting Spartanburg’s youth with the natural world through hands-on learning, exploration, and community
stewardship. The program will be a dynamic outdoor initiative and will integrate a core focus on watershed ecology to provide community youth with a structured pathway to explore local trails, complete environmental challenges, and earn tangible rewards. The program will increase understanding of the watershed ecology specific to the local region and will encourage children and parents within the community to engage in the Daniel Morgan Trail System.
PAL’s plan is to develop a progressive, rank-based program for preschool through high school students. The organization will develop the program with an interactive website map and guidebook to serve as the digital hub of the program and provide participants with any supplies needed for associated “tasks” within the program. This hub will allow easy tracking of project participation and will keep parents and children engaged.
“PAL continues to bring valuable assets to our Spartanburg community,” said Louie Blanton, Chairman of the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District Commission. “The Junior PAL program is a wonderful extension of their new Watershed Ecology Education Station, and will help foster appreciation for our natural resources in the future of our community.”
The organization also wants to provide signage and interactive watershed ecology pieces at key locations across the Daniel Morgan Trail System that can link participants back to the Junior PAL’s website. PAL also plans to utilize funding to create pins, stickers, water bottles, backpacks, and other items in partnership with SWS to reward program achievements.
ABOUT SPARTANBURG WATER
Spartanburg Water, an industry leading utility, is comprised of Spartanburg Water System and Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District. It serves a population of nearly 200,000 within Spartanburg County, as well as others in parts of Greenville, Union and Cherokee counties. With the help of its dedicated team of nearly 300 employees, each day it produces an average of 25 million gallons of drinking water and cleans 14 million gallons of wastewater for its customers and community.
ABOUT PAL
The mission of PAL (Play. Advocate. Live Well.) advances active living and healthy eating for everyone. The focus goal of PAL is to improve health and wellness throughout Spartanburg County by creating an environment and culture that fosters physical activity and healthy eating through an equity lens. PAL identifies itself as a small non-profit working to enact large scale change. For more information, please visit palspartanburg.org
