We invite you to consider a special form of adopting with Keep Liberty Beautiful.

We haven’t gotten into the business of adopting of babies or pets, although we heartily support both. At Keep Liberty Beautiful, we encourage you to consider adopting a part of our community.

Adopt Liberty is a new take on an old idea. It is a community appearance program sponsored by Keep Liberty Beautiful in conjunction with cities and the governments.

The program serves as an umbrella for several "adopting" possibilities to create public interest and support for roads and bodies of water, as well as public spaces such as trails, green spaces, parks, neighborhoods and communities.

Adopt Liberty promotes public involvement in the maintenance and/or improvement of "adopted" areas. The purpose is to care for and enhance these public areas by allowing the community to assume some responsibility.

All major litter research studies show that litter decreases in areas where the community has taken responsibility in maintaining them. It seems people will litter more where they think no one cares. Your involvement shows someone cares.

I often say — and I truly believe — that Adopt Liberty is much more than a program to encourage volunteers to pick up litter.

It is a powerful teaching tool to discourage litterers from littering. It sends a tremendous message when litterers see their neighbors, friends and fellow citizens picking up the litter they have carelessly discarded.

That message is that their friends, neighbors and fellow citizens do not like litter and do not want it in their streets, sidewalks and waterways.

We appreciate the cities and county’s efforts to provide litter details to keep our community litter-free, but the message that volunteers send by adopting and participating cleanups is something that hard-working public litter details just cannot do.

We currently have more than 50 areas adopted by individuals and families, neighborhood groups, civic organizations, youth, school and church groups, and businesses.

People adopt areas that matter to them, usually near where they live or work.

We ask adoptees:

• to commit for a minimum of at least a year

• to have a cleanup at least once a quarter

• to adopt at least a mile

• to submit basic information on each cleanup — date, hours worked, number of volunteers, number of bags of litter collected, other types of debris that was picked up, etc.

We also loan out supplies and equipment to adoptees so they can be safe and effective during their cleanups. We can provide safety vests, garbage bags, gloves and pickup tools.

Once groups apply, we install road signs — with the assistance of local public works — noting the adopted areas and the names of groups or individuals who take the time to keep them clean.

There are many areas that can still be adopted. Those areas are just waiting for someone who cares.

Adopt Liberty is one of the programs that will change the face of our community over time.

Thank you for considering this effort to make Liberty County the clean and beautiful place it should be.

To find out more about this program and more at Keep Liberty Beautiful, call us at 912-880-4888, email klcb@coastalnow.net, or visit our website at www.keeplibertybeautiful.org .