Concert Video (January 2001 - Present)

The Backstreet Boys Black & Blue World Tour includes a performance of "The Answer to Our Life," a song written by all five members of the group. The song is backed by both wondrous and devastating environmental images projected on a 40-foot screen behind the group, with the hope of inspiring the audience to reconnect with their natural world and consider the impacts of our actions on the Earth. The video coupled with the song makes for a strong aural/visual message which reaches between 16,000 and 30,000 people per concert. JWR secured the donated video footage from Appalshop, Inc. of Kentucky (coal sludge footage), High Plains Films of Montana, National Geographic Television, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.

Information Tabling (January 2001 - Present)

The best place to start is at home! To promote local education and programs in fans' own home areas, JWR invites state and regional Sierra Club chapters to set up information tables at Backstreet Boys concerts. Local chapter volunteers are on hand at the venues to discuss local environmental issues and answer questions, providing an opportunity for face-to-face communication.

The Link Between Our Health and the Health of Our Environment (February 26, 2001)

While on a concert tour stop in Washington state, Kevin Richardson took a tour and met with researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, one of the premier cancer centers in the nation. There, he learned about the latest studies and statistics on cancer. Though environmental cancer research is currently less conclusive than he had hoped, Kevin believes there is a link between the health of our environment and the incidence of cancer. Kevin lost his father to the disease in 1991.

Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act (April 4, 2001)

Having lost his father Jerald Wayne Richardson (whose initials are the namesake of the JWR Foundation) to colorectal cancer in 1991, Kevin Richardson holds a deep interest in the prevention and cure of cancer. Aside from his environmental work, Kevin was invited to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to serve as a spokesperson for the Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act sponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Representative Louise Slaughter of New York and Representative Constance Morella of Maryland. The bill would ensure that insurance companies cover the cost of periodic colorectal cancer screening for people age 50 and above and cover screening for people under 50 who are at high risk for the disease. Kevin may be called in the coming months to testify before Congress.

Pine Mountain Settlement School (March 16, 2001)

As a concerned citizen, Kevin Richardson wrote letters to the editors of the Lexington Herald-Leader and Louisville Courier-Journal in support of the Pine Mountain Settlement School's petition to declare land near the historical school unsuitable for mountaintop removal mining. Kevin filed similar letters of concern with Kentucky Natural Resources Secretary James Bickford and Kentucky Governor Paul Patton. The School's petition was recognized and approved and the majority of the land outlined in the petition was preserved from mining, thereby saving the school from mine encroachment and potential destruction from blasting and flyrock.

Kentucky PRIDE Award (May 12, 2001)

Southwings Flight Over Martin County Coal Sludge Spill (June 19, 2001)

Southwings volunteer pilot Hume Davenport of Chattanooga, Tennessee, took Kevin Richardson, the JWR staff and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth member Teri Blanton for a hop across Kentucky. They witnessed the vast Earth scarring of mountaintop removal mining as well as clear-cut logging. Kevin said, "It's everywhere you look, horizon to horizon." During the flight, Kevin himself flew the plane over the town of Irvine and Estill County High School, his alma mater, to find it flanked by a coal sludge pond on one side and a solid waste landfill on the other. The tour also included following the route of last October's coal slurry pond spill in Martin County that dumped 250 million gallons of coal sludge into a number of neighboring waterways.

Visit to Pepperhill Farm Day School and Camp (June 19, 2001)

After his flight over Kentucky, Kevin made a surprise visit to a local day camp where he spoke to over 100 children, between the ages of 5 and 14, about the importance of protecting the Earth. Kevin asked that his visit be unannounced and without publicity so the kids would be comfortable and so he could spend quality "face time" with them without being followed by cameras and media - a true indication of his commitment to giving younger citizens the respect he thinks they deserve. Together, Kevin and the kids chatted about ideas for conserving energy and resources. JWR Joins Forces with the New Power Project (August 15, 2001) Kevin Richardson and Just Within Reach signed on with the New Power Project, an innovative grassroots coalition of musicians who will speak against the Bush administration's energy plan and its disregard for environmental protection and failure to support conservation and renewable energy programs. The Project is an action of SaveOurEnvironment.org and includes such artists as Mike D. of the Beastie Boys, Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews Band, Moby and Matchbox 20, to name a few.

Alternative Energy Public Service Announcement for the Sierra Club, California (August 31, 2001)

In a partnership with the Sierra Club of California and cable company Charter Communications, Kevin Richardson recorded a television public service announcement regarding the importance of energy conservation and alternative energy sources. The 30-second piece is scheduled to air on Charter Communications channels in northern and southern California in the fall of 2001.