BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – People came out with litter sticks, trash bags, and orange vests for an annual clean-up event.
In honor of Earth Day, the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce’s Make It Shine Committee was joined by several volunteers for their annual Litter Sweep.
The crew met on the parking lot of the Kroger Harper Road prior to the sweep. They were given various supplies and a litter pick-up area assignment.
“Everyone sees orange safety vests and they say, wait a minute, if they can pick up litter we can pick up litter, so it inspires others to be involved,” says Sherrie Hunter, the Chair of the Make It Shine Committee.
This year’s litter sweep was a little bit different. While the committee typically stays on Harper Road for the pick-up, this time they made their way over to Pikeview Drive for the occasion as Harper Road was recently adopted by another organization with the same agenda in mind.
Due to the curvy nature of the road, the team enlisted the help of Beckley PD and Raleigh County Litter Control to keep the traffic at bay during the sweep. It’s an important event with a great need extending beyond Earth Day.
“Noone wants to vacation or visit, or say anything good about a place that’s littered,” Hunter says. “When you have a litter pick-up it’s like, company’s coming let’s be beautiful. But we don’t have to do this just on one day of the year, we can do this all of the time.”
The committee holds frequent litter sweeps throughout the summer. They are always open to new volunteers who would like to provide a helping hand.
If anyone would like to be one of those volunteers, they can contact the chamber of commerce or the Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority to find out more.
