Dr. Karen Bell, Keep Liberty Beautiful
This Saturday, April 30, Keep Liberty Beautiful will be partnering with the City of Riceboro for a citywide cleanup for Great American Cleanup.
We sincerely appreciate all of the cities in our county for making these annual spring cleanups a priority. Litter in our community reflects poorly on us, so we appreciate our elected officials throughout the county for leading the effort to keep our community clean.
Saturday’s city cleanup will kick off at the Riceboro Creek Pavilion, 4000 South Coastal Highway in Riceboro. Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m. We ask that all interested volunteers register ahead so that we can have adequate cleanup supplies available, as well as plenty of food at the after-cleanup picnic, graciously provided by the City of Riceboro. All registered volunteers will receive an official Keep Liberty Beautiful cleanup T-shirt.
If you have never been to a volunteer litter cleanup before, let me share how simple it is to participate. No special skills are required, and we provide all supplies and water for volunteers. When you arrive, as an individual volunteer or as part of a volunteer group, we provide you with litter reachers, gloves, trash bags and safety vests to wear. We then go over the safety points because, quite frankly, your safety is more important to us than any piece of trash on the ground. We then make cleanup location assignments. (Let us know if you prefer a particular area to clean up, like your neighborhood or the street your church or business is on.) We then take a photo of each group and of all of our volunteers so that we can share your sweet, smiling faces on Facebook and other venues.
Groups then go to their assigned areas and clean up for a couple of hours before returning to turn in their supplies, receive their T-shirts, and enjoy the picnic provided by the city.
More than 600 volunteers have participated in cleanups in areas throughout Liberty County, so if April 30 is not a good day for you, we can arrange to provide supplies on another day for you that is workable. We have a variety of smaller group and area cleanups scheduled through the end of June, so do not hesitate to ask if a later date is better.
Periodically, I have people ask why volunteer cleanups matter, when many cities have staff or details for litter pickup. I sincerely value our local governments’ conscientious efforts to keep areas looking good. Still, if you have never noticed how much trash accumulates on our streets, I invite you to participate in this cleanup. Like our 50-plus Adopt Liberty groups, volunteer cleanups and groups help supplement the work of our city and county staff. The added benefit is that cleanup volunteers are a valuable teaching tool for all the citizens riding by and seeing them. It helps to remind people that might be litterers that many of their fellow citizens do NOT want their litter on our ground.
I believe in people being involved in making a difference where we live. There are many ways and many programs in which people can be involved.
If you like to gripe about our community, I invite you to find a way to make a credible difference. If you already volunteer, you know that great communities do not just happen. Concerned people get involved and make their communities great. It is a choice. We are thankful for the volunteers that join with us frequently to make that difference!
If you would like to register for Saturday’s cleanup or participate on another day, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at klcb@libertycountyga.com or (912) 880-4888. We’ll be waiting to hear from you!