Keep Columbus Beautiful is launching a new Adopt-A-Block program this weekend to keep the city’s streets clean.
The program will launch in conjunction with a community clean up from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday.
Lakeysucha Bailey, president of Keep Columbus Beautiful, said she’s ecstatic about launching the program.
“When a community works together toward one goal, we all win,” Bailey said. “I know our city is important to everyone who lives and invests in it … It warms my heart to know and to see others have the same passion as I to keep where we live and play clean.”
The Adopt-A-Block program encourages community members and organizations to keep the city clean by choosing a block to clean at least four times a year.
The first official Adopt-A-Block cleanup will take place Saturday in conjunction with a community cleanup, though block adopters can clean their designated blocks at any time throughout the year.
Glenda Richardson, owner of The Spoon Hub, a networking tool for small black businesses, has adopted a block near her church, A Prepared Table, located at 1201 College St. Richardson said that like any home, it’s important to keep the place you live clean.
“Columbus is my home, and I just feel like homes should always be clean,” Richardson said. “When we invite other people in, we don’t want them to say that they’ve come to a city that has not been well kept. If it’s a friendly city, everything about it needs to look friendly. That includes cleanliness.”
Richardson, who also serves as community liaison with Columbus Police Department, said she plans to adopt as many blocks as she can along College Street and hopes to have an abundance of volunteers to help her do so.
“We’re hoping that this will become contagious where everyone will want to jump in and do their part,” Richardson said. “… From the church up College Street, as far as we can go, we’re going to cover as many blocks as we can. If we have enough volunteers to pick that up, then we will venture over to another street.”
Jason Spears, founder and coach for Golden Triangle Elite Soccer, said his group has taken up a block by Cook Soccer Complex on Sixth Street North and Willowbrook Road. He said it’s important to keep the community clean in areas where traffic is high.
“We wanted to pitch in where we can to help keep the community clean around areas where kids are playing and there’s a lot of activity and traffic,” Spears said. “… It sets an example for others to see a clean area, and hopefully they’ll appreciate it enough that they won’t want to litter in those areas.”
Any person or organization can adopt a block by contacting Lakeysucha Bailey at (662) 205-6419. Bailey said that while community members can choose any block near them to keep clean, they do hope to target “high litter” areas in the community.
“We’ll try to assign people to those areas first,” Bailey said. “That’s our goal. But if they say, ‘Well that’s further out than we want to go,’ then that’s fine. Pick up closer to your home base. But we do want to make sure we cover those hot spots.”
Great American Cleanup
The Adopt-A-Block efforts will begin Saturday morning during Keep Columbus Beautiful’s community cleanup, which is being held as part of the Great American Cleanup, a nationwide effort to clean as much litter as possible by July 2026 in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. Saturday at 1601 Main St. and can choose to either help organizations clean their designated blocks, or they can work alongside Keep Columbus Beautiful Members to target problem areas in the city, namely in Wards 1, 4 and 5.
Jammie Garrett, a member of Keep Columbus Beautiful and the city’s chief operations officer, said about 15 volunteers have committed to the cleanup, though she hopes more will come out.
“We want a cleaner, greener and more beautiful Columbus,” Garrett said. “But for America’s 250th birthday, in preparation for it, the idea is that just like you would do for your own birthday party, you prepare for it. … We’re hoping the whole city comes out.”
Volunteers should sign up ahead of time by calling Bailey at (662) 205-6419 or by emailing the organization at [email protected] to ensure that enough supplies are available for all volunteers. Keep Columbus Beautiful will supply all vests, gloves, trash bags and trash grabbers.
Mayor Keith Gaskin said he hopes participating in this weekend’s event will encourage people to keep Columbus clean year-round.
“It’s a great way to meet some people in the city, talk to some of your elected officials and then do something good for the community,” Gaskin said. “I think once people get out and do it, volunteer a few times, they’ll kind of get the bug to keep the city clean.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
