Summer Clean Sweep facing competing events, needs more support

Interest in this weekend’s Summer Clean Sweep effort has been low so far but coordinator Emily Draffen hopes it will pick up by Saturday.

The New Albany Main Street Association, which is overseeing the event, is calling for volunteers to meet at the Union County Heritage Museum by 9 a.m. where they can pick up garbage bags and other material. Coordinators will assign groups to specific streets or areas for litter removal, if needed.

Draffen said she realizes there are conflicts. It’s the weekend before school, the tax-free weekend sale is going on and the weather is likely to be brutal.

“I just want to fix it in people’s mind as a regular event,” she said.

Although clean-up efforts have mostly been in the city in past years, this time volunteers throughout the county will be asked to participate.

Volunteers will remove litter until noon, at which time the Union County Development Association will be providing lunch back at the museum.

Individuals or groups who already have areas in mind may pick up there if they wish.

“If you already have an idea where you want to clean up, go ahead,” she said. “You may just want to clean up your yard, street, neighborhood or a parking lot.”

This city- and county-wide cleanup event is registered with Keep America Beautiful and the Great American Cleanup.

Draffen will be reporting to Keep America Beautiful on how many volunteers participate, how much of the county volunteers are able to cover, and how many bags of trash volunteers collect.

Keep New Albany and Union County Beautiful is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/keepnaanducbeautiful and Instagram at @keepnaanducbeautiful. Draffen is urging volunteers to follow and engage with these accounts, tagging them in any posts or photos of trash picked up.

“We want to encourage coming together as a community and taking care of our county. We’ve got a truly special area here and it’s on us to be good stewards,” she said.

Volunteers may call the Main Street office at (662) 534-3438 with any questions about the event. Even just cleaning a small area and not joining the organized effort can make a difference, she said.