COLUMBUS – From neighborhood streets to major corridors, community members on Saturday will be combing the streets of Columbus in hopes of making a visible difference, one block at a time.
Participants in the Adopt-A-Block Citywide Cleanup will hit the streets starting bright and early at 8 a.m.
“If you care about where you live, what it looks like and how it’s presented to others, you’ll be encouraged to pick up a minimum of 25 pieces of litter on Saturday morning,” Lakeysucha Bailey, president of Keep Columbus Beautiful, told The Dispatch.
KCB launched its Adopt-A-Block program last spring, having community members take ownership of a specific stretch of their neighborhood, clean it up and maintain it with the goal of encouraging community engagement, environmental stewardship and civic pride.
While she’s still reaching out to volunteers, Bailey feels optimistic about participation in Saturday’s cleanup as more organizations, city officials and local students sign on to take part in the effort.
“There are some young students from the Mayor’s Youth Council, and I’m encouraging them to just walk outside your house on the block where you live,” she said. “Even if you just do it from corner to corner of your block, that makes a difference.”
Anyone interested in participating in the cleanup Saturday is asked to provide their contact information at keepcolumbusbeautiful.org. From there, Bailey said a KCB member will reach out to confirm which block or blocks volunteers plan to adopt.
KCB will provide supplies to participants, including trash bags, gloves and pickup sticks.
Noting how often community members come together for sporting events, festivals and other activities, Bailey said she hopes to see a similar turnout for a cause that directly affects sustainability and the city’s appearance.
“It is for everybody,” she said. “Any block in the city of Columbus can be adopted, and don’t hesitate to adopt more than one. If you have some friends or neighbors that want to challenge each other, say, ‘Let’s get out together and pick up litter.’”
Taking it a step further, Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Stewart said participating in the citywide cleanup is an opportunity for participants to contribute to ongoing progress in the city. Stewart plans to spend the day Saturday cleaning up inside her ward without about five other volunteers.
“It’s very important to keep the trash up because when you don’t, it blows in other people’s yards and gets in storm drains,” Stewart said. “That causes problems with drainage. To me, that’s just something that’s very important. Not just to beautify, but to keep things clean.”
KCB member Josie Shumake told The Dispatch she’ll be cleaning up around the perimeter of the Mississippi University for Women campus on Saturday as the university prepares to host homecoming next month.
“In a way, picking up trash helps build community,” Shumake said. “It’s obvious it makes things look better. But I think there’s a renewed interest in doing something for your community, a lot of push for that, and I want to be a part of it.”
Shumake hopes to see other participants in the Adopt-A-Block program carry on their cleanup well past Saturday.
“If The W thing works out for me, I might just make that a monthly habit, just go around (and) pick up trash,” Shumake said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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