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AMERICUS — “Keep Americus Beautiful” celebrated “National Clean Up Day” on Saturday. From 9 a.m. until noon, volunteers challenged people to make Americus happier, healthier, and cleaner by simply picking up trash around your home, work, or school.

Sept. 21 marked the third annual National Clean Up Day. The national effort began in 2017, with the mission of cleaning up the world simply by picking up trash. Started by the organization Clean Trails, the initiative partners with nonprofits and community organizations throughout the nation.

The city’s waste disposal vendor, Advanced Disposal, was the signature sponsor for the event providing T-shirts to the volunteers as well as a large roll-off waste container. The vendor’s municipal sales representative, Michael McWhirter, was on site and shared, “Advanced Disposal welcomed the opportunity to partner with the City of Americus and others in bringing attention to our environmental services expertise. We look forward to helping to create a culture of recycling, litter reduction, and waste disposal to ensure that we continue to deliver the highest quality service to our customers.”

According to event planners Debbie Bell, Planning & Zoning director, and Qaijuan Willis, Main Street firector, over 50 volunteers came out to show their support with a clean-up focus on the downtown area. Mayor Barry Blount, Council member Lou Chase, and Council member Nelson Brown were among the elected officials who attended. Earlier in the week, the City proclaimed Saturday as “National Clean Up Day” with strong encouragement to take action to make the entire country a better place to live and to put litter in its place. Community groups represented were the Rotary Club of Americus, Cub Scouts, Georgia Southwestern State University Baseball, Nu Zeta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., Woodman Life (Woodmen of the World), Citizen Corps, Jacobs, Habitat for Humanity, WISK Radio, Americus Public Works, and Americus Fire & Emergency Services. Over 50 bags were collected for processing by Advanced Disposal.

“Waste challenges every community every day, and these clean ups offer a chance for every person to make a positive difference. By working together, the City of Americus and its partners aim to inspire action and achieve tangible impacts on waste in our community and environment. Improved health, strong investments, and community vibrancy can be achieved once people gain the expectation that our community will be clean,” says City Manager Charles Coney.