National cleanup day in West Memphis
Local groups do their part to keep their community looking good
By JOHN RECH
news@theeveningtimes.com
What would happen if everyone picked up a piece of litter? Well, the city would be a little cleaner.
That was the simple premise for National Cleanup Day. An estimated 21 million volunteers picked up garbage blowing along curbside and sidewalks on Saturday. In West Memphis a police officer, sorority alumni, and a girl scout troop swept through the town with their litter patrols.
The annual keep West Memphis Beautiful scheduled in the spring each year had been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns this year. At that time state limits on crowd size prevented organizing that cleanup. What a difference a few months made. City Director of Community Outreach Tawana Bailey took initiative to coordinate an all volunteer clean-up initiative over the weekend and put it under the national banner. Featured partners for the sweep included Keep America Beautiful and the Girl Scouts. In all 180 nations took part in the global effort.
“I wear a lot of hats, one with the city,” said Bailey. “but this was a volunteer effort. I’m affiliated with the girls scouts as the troop leader and the sorority. The Deltas committed to cleaning up the mile along Broadway four times a year and decided to do the fall cleanup on the National Cleanup Day.”
West Memphis Police Officer Roy Davis escorted the Girl Scout Troop 10136
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Youth volunteered for community service. Officer Roy Davis escorted Girl Scout Troop 10126 on national cleanup day. Standing left to right with some of their bagged litter were Chunese Gates, Melissa Webb, TaNiyah Bailey, Paige Gates, Kelis Davis, Officer Roy Davis, Tawana Bailey Whitney Davis and Jordan Jefferson.
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around town and got his hands dirty scooping up the litter along with the scouts. Sorority alumni swept the city beginning in two separate spots and converging on East Broadway.The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority sisters policed litter between 14th Street and MLK along Broadway.
From coast to coast organizations volunteered to clean up parks, trails, beaches, mountains and open spaces. The effort in the United States was dubbed “From Sea to Shining Sea.”
The mission of the international cleanup day was bringing together organizations and individuals to encourage a clean outdoors in more than 100 counties.
With Dodge’s Chicken in the background, the second half of the Deltas Sigma Theta alumni began moving east cleaning up litter long Broadway heading toward the Big River Trail head at South Loop Road.Left to right stood Wakeshia Williams, LaTorie lee, Tiffany Gipson, DeAundra Hearn, Tami Jenkins, and Constance Brown. The sweat effort marked the first local sweep under the national cleanup day.
Delta Sigma Theta Alumni Rubye Johnson, Atara Dorsey, Sheri Lowe, Lynell McGruder, Tawana Bailey, and Tracye LaBattes Parker started sweeping east Broadway from the new Dennis Brewer Fire Station 3 at South Loop and Broadway and headed west into the city picking up litter as part of national Cleanup Day. The cooler early fall weather made for an ideal time. Bailey (foreground) organized the local event.
Photos submitted
