The Henderson Community Appearance Commission and the Vance County Appearance Commission are coordinating a Henderson-Vance County Spring Litter Sweep event for Saturday, April 25, 2009.
The county-wide event will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 12:00 p.m.
This event is designed to focus on cleaning up high visibility areas. Volunteers throughout the community will be cleaning up areas along city streets, county roadways, public areas and neighborhoods.
Jason Brown, a native of Henderson and now a star offensive lineman with the St. Louis Rams in the National Football League, is helping to sponsor the Spring Litter Sweep through his “Wisdom For Life” non-profit foundation. Brown will be providing t-shirts to Litter Sweep volunteers and also will sponsor a lunch for all participants on April 25.
The Henderson-Vance County Spring Litter Sweep is part of the statewide litter sweep scheduled from April 18 through May 2.
Appearance commission members are appealing to all Henderson and Vance County residents to take pride in our community’s appearance and join in this clean-up effort. Volunteers are being sought through local residents, civic organizations, churches and their youth groups, schools and school clubs and organizations, neighborhood associations, community watch groups, Crime Stoppers groups, businesses, volunteer fire departments, the city fire department, local police and sheriff’s officials, and N.C. Adopt-A-Highway organizations.
Any local citizens interested in joining this effort may do so. Local residents are urged to clean up around their homes and in their neighborhoods during this three-hour period on April 25. Local businesses in Henderson and Vance County also are encouraged to make special efforts during the week of April 20-24 to clean up trash and debris surrounding their buildings. They may also join in the efforts for the Saturday cleanup.
Volunteers are being recruited and will gather to begin the clean-up effort on April 25 at local volunteer fire departments in the county and in the parking lot of the National Guard Armory on Dabney Drive in Henderson. As volunteers arrive at these locations, they will be directed by fire department representatives and city or county appearance commission members to designated clean-up areas throughout the county and in Henderson. Trash bags, gloves and vests will be distributed to volunteers to use during their clean-up work. These supplies are being provided by the local office of the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Most of the clean-up work in the city and county will involve picking up trash and litter along streets and roadways. Some debris, which may include tires, furniture, bed mattresses and appliances, also will be collected. Items such as these collected during the cleanup, as well as litter and trash items, will be picked up in Henderson by city maintenance workers on April 25. Such items found in the county will be picked up by a county maintenance truck. N.C. Department of Transportation workers will pick up trash bags left by volunteers along county roadways on Monday, April 27.
Members of the city and county appearance commissions are stressing to local residents that any large items they no longer want (such as appliances, furniture, tires and bed mattresses) can be taken to any of the eight manned trash sites in the county at no charge. Representatives from Waste Industries will then take care of proper disposal of the items. Residents are asked to never throw these types of items along roadways or any deserted, unpopulated areas.
Volunteers who participate in the April 25 Spring Litter Sweep will be treated to a hot dog lunch that will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the City Operations Center on Beckford Drive in Henderson. The lunch is being sponsored by Brown’s “Wisdom for Life” foundation. Currently, Brown is planning to attend the event.
All city and county residents and organizations are encouraged to take part in this community wide effort! It’s time that we all take pride in our community and become proactive in our efforts to improve the overall appearance of our city and county.
For additional information about the Spring Litter Sweep and to be involved in this effort, please contact Terri Hedrick at 252.492.2127 or Jane Rush at 252.492.7203.