ROCKINGHAM — A countywide cleanup originally planned for this Saturday has been rescheduled due to the threat of showers.
Aging Services Director Jacqueline Welch, who is helping to organize the effort, made the official announcement around noon Thursday.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service had been calling for an 80% chance of rain, however that chance increased to 90% on Wednesday and 100% by Thursday.
Welch said organizers are hoping for clearer skies the following weekend.
“If your schedule allows you to pick up on another day besides the 1st, please feel free to do so,” she said in an email.
Those who do decide to pick up trash before next Saturday are encouraged to call Assistant Public Works Director Bryan Leggett to arrange to have the bags picked up or take the bags to the county landfill on Walter Kelly Road — not a convenience site — and tell the attendant the garbage is for “Earth Day” or “Community Involvement.”
Leggett can be reached at 910-206-2252.
A Facebook Group — Earth Day is Everyday- Richmond County, NC — has been created as “a place to connect with like-minded citizens within Richmond County … who want to pick up garbage and clean up their communities,” according to Welch. “This group will also act as an informational hub for Richmond County’s Earth Day Clean-Up Day.”
As of last Friday, 511 volunteers in 45 groups have signed up to participate.
Some of the local industries will have teams picking up trash in their areas.
Vulcan Materials has the largest team, with 50 volunteers, who will be cleaning up on Galestown Road.
Two other companies, American Woodmark and Superior Cranes, will have teams along their respective Adopt-A-Highway sections, according to an assignment sheet.
The assignment list also shows local churches getting involved with the effort: Beaver Dam United Methodist Church on McDonald Church Road; Philadelphia United Methodist Church in its community; and McLean Presbyterian Church in Ellerbe on Millstone Road.
Twenty-five cadets from the Richmond Senior High School Army JROTC Raider Battalion, members of the school’s Beta Club and Richmond Early College High School’s Eco Club — who recently picked up five bags of trash on Wiregrass Road — are also on the list.
The N.C. Department of Transportation announced Monday that 4 million pounds of litter have been picked up along state roads this year — 1 million pounds have been collected since April 1.
In March, state and county workers picked up more than 5 tons of garbage from local roadways, according to the solid waste report.
County Manager Bryan Land said he hopes the momentum continues long after Earth Day — which is technically Thursday, April 22 — has passed.
Last week, firemen from Hamlet Fire and Rescue cleaned up around City Lake.
Volunteers from Place of Grace Campus also have been cleaning up around East Rockingham and plan to twice a week, according to Pastor Gary Richardson.
