Keep the Midlands Beautiful kicking off 2022 ‘Great American Cleanup’

March 1, 2022

Columbia-area nonprofit Keep the Midlands Beautiful (KMB) will celebrate the beginning of the 2022 Great American Cleanup by hosting a volunteer litter pickup of Boiling Springs Road on Saturday, March 19, 2022.

The Kickoff event will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers will meet at the Edmund Community Center at 5721 Edmund Highway, Lexington, SC for a safety briefing, then disperse to pick up litter along designated stretches of roadway from Longview Drive to Highway 6. KMB will provide all necessary cleanup materials including litter grabbers, safety vests, work gloves, trash and recycling bags, hand sanitizer and disposable face masks.

Once the cleanup is complete, all participants will be invited to return to the Community Center to receive a free lunch and thank-you gifts. The volunteer who collects the most trash will receive a prize basket provided by KMB.

KMB is hoping that business owners, civic organizations, churches, and area residents will unite to address the growing litter problem along this corridor, which borders the 62-acre Shealy’s Pond SCDNR Heritage Preserve. Volunteers are asked to pre-register at http://bit.ly/GACKickoff.

The Great American Cleanup is an annual event hosted by Keep America Beautiful, providing an opportunity for citizens to volunteer and make a tangible difference in the amount of litter in the environment. An estimated 15,000 communities participate in this grassroots effort to unite neighbors, local businesses, and civic leaders in the fight against litter accumulation. The 2022 Great American Cleanup will run from March 21 to June 22.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent decrease in volunteers has caused an increase in litter accumulation in roadways and green spaces. To get involved in the fight against litter during this year’s Great American Cleanup, here’s what you can do:

 

About Keep the Midlands Beautiful

The mission of Keep the Midlands Beautiful is to engage, inspire, and educate the Midlands to invest in our community through litter prevention, recycling, and beautification.