The annual township-wide cleanup is a volunteer effort that encourages residents to recognize the importance of a healthy environment.
Monroe’s Parks and Recreation Department and the township’s Clean Communities group are seeking volunteers and help from area groups for the Team Up 2 Cleanup of the community on Saturday, May 9.
The sponsors have put out the word to local groups, nonprofits and school clubs who would like to donate their time to the annual effort. The day begins at Owens Park at 9 a.m., where participants will get supplies like gloves and trash bags and be assigned an area to clean.
Those areas include sections of town like Blue Bell Road. Exact routes will be revealed to participants two days before the cleanup, which will last for about three hours. At noon, participants will meet back at Owens Park for lunch and giveaways.
“Each group gets up to $500, provided they meet certain criteria and have a certain amount of people participate,” said parks and recreation supervisor and clean communities coordinator Tiffany Carney. “We do it to help support local groups and school clubs, the WTHS (Williamstown High School) tennis club, drama club and more like that.”
The event is meant to convey the importance of a clean environment.
“It’s a really fun day,” Carney explained. “They (volunteers) meet new groups and come back with smiles on their face. They don’t realize how much trash there is.”
In conjunction with the cleanup, Carney wants to launch a website for individuals to report sightings of trash so the township can clear them. She wants to have it up and running before or on the day of the event.
The cleanup is rain or shine and kids are welcome. Register online at the Monroe Township website.
“It’s really important to get them (kids) involved, since they can retain a lot of information at their age,” Carney noted. “People in the past have been like, ‘I can’t get my kid to clean their room, but they help clean here.’ We try to make it fun and educational for them.”
