Paddlers moved their kayaks and canoes into the mouth of the river Sunday in celebration of the GRE 2010’s mission to explore and document the river’s environmental changes.

Held every 10 years, the GRE staff of organizers worked hard to make this year’s expedition a success, said Patrick Harrington, the GRE 2010 middle grand coordinator.

The purpose of the expedition is not just to paddle down the river, but to learn its history and educate people of the importance to protect it, Harrington said.

“We’re bringing attention to it, we’re bringing in education, environmental stewardship — we’re including all of the users,” Harrington said. “The manufacturers, the agriculture and education is a big part of the primary goal.”

To Harrington, the support from communities across the state has been displayed in participants and in the cleanliness of the river itself.

“This year we were put together on a shoe string, and it’s running tight,” Harrington said. “It’s going really good, we’ve got so many people stepping in to help, all the communities we go down as we travel the whole length of the Grand River.”

This year, the expedition attracted more paddlers than it has in pervious years, said Erich Ditschman, MSU alumnus and 10-year survivor of kidney failure, who is paddling in the trip not only to raise money for the NKFM, but to prove that life still can go on after struggle.

“What’s great is that we are able to see the change in water quality improving,” Ditschman said. “It’s not just about paddlers. (People) are catching pike, they’re catching cat fish, they’re catching blue gill — it’s more than just paddlers.”

When paddlers stop in the communities the river runs through, they experience a swell of support and generosity from residents, said Pat Conley, secretary of the GRE steering committee.

“The communities along the way have been wonderful — they’ve fed us, given us places to set up our tents, they’ve helped haul things out,” Conley said.