ROCKINGHAM — Just as Richmond County’s local governments took their first public step to come together to resolve a financial, they’ve united to address the county’s litter issue with a county-wide clean up that will become a regular practice.
Representatives from each municipality met with county officials at the Richmond County Airport last week to discuss how they could contribute to a project called Earth Day, which is being coordinated by, Jacqueline Welch, executive director of Richmond County Aging Services. Welch has come up with lists of roads that will be targeted on a community clean up day based on those county part-time staff already clean, those that have been “adopted” in the Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program, and those named in Facebook comments from community members.
“So between these three lists we can help to cover the areas that are most concerning to the citizens of Richmond County,” Welch said. “I wanted to make it convenient for someone to participate even if it was just outside their own yards.”
Under Welch’s plan, all municipalities will act as pick-up and drop-off sites for safety supplies, help to keep track of volunteers, and gather trash bags in a common area once they fill up. Tedder Trash Solutions has offered their services free of charge to pick up bags across the county after the pick up day, according to County Manager Bryan Land.
The Earth Day Community Clean Up will be held from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on April 24, with May 1 as a backup date in case of rain. The deadline to volunteer is April 2, and the deadline to name your priority area is Friday, April 16. There are sponsorship opportunities available to help offset costs of supplies.
To participate and for more information, call or email Jacqueline Welch at 910-997-4491 and jacqueline.welch@richmondnc.com or go online to www.richmondcountync.org/538/Earth-Day-Community-Clean-Up to sign up.
Welch said she has reached out to churches, civic groups, veteran organizations, schools, Girls and Boy Scouts, lawyers and local businesses to join in the event.
As of Tuesday, there are 130 volunteers signed up, according to Assistant Public Works Director Bryan Leggett.
“I feel this meeting was very productive and I see the community coming together to participate on April 24th,” Leggett said in an email. “I encourage all to volunteer and be proud of where you live and your community.”
There have been four new groups to sign up to adopt a highway in 2021, according to Leggett. DOT asks volunteers to commit to at least four years of cleanups along a 2-mile stretch of roadway. Volunteers must cleanup their area four time per year and complete a report for DOT. For more information, visit https://apps.ncdot.gov/LM/.
In an interview last month, Leggett told the Daily Journal that he thinks of the litter problem like crime: the public is often needed to make a real difference.
“A great analogy to use would be crime: the law enforcement cannot do it all so the community gets together and forms a neighborhood watch program and they work in conjunction with the law enforcement,” Leggett said. “We need the same here, the community needs to come together: county, municipalities, and citizens need to work together. Educate one another and take pride in where you live, don’t rely on the other person to clean it up.”
