By: Clair Tribble
talk about why people volunteer. We all know the wonderful benefits of volunteering — community impact, social engagement, personal growth, etc. The reasons one volunteers are endless, and all of them as equally important as another. We all have our favorite causes and ways to support them. And each cause is, without any doubt, as important as any other. We are humbled by the tremendous support we receive from volunteers and sponsors.
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful’s success has been built and maintained by the countless volunteers who have worked with us over the years. We are humbled at every KALB cleanup by the support we receive. We have had volunteers of all ages who have all made a difference in Limestone County. It never fails, we always come across the “why-in-the-world-is-this-here” trash. Sofas in the river, 100’s of Legos in the woods, TVs in the woods — this list can go on forever. As adults, it’s infuriating to have to clean up trash that other adults have littered or dumped.
We are lucky at Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful. We have an amazing volunteer base that shows up and shows out. They are responsible for removing 171,072 pounds of trash from all over Limestone County in the past five years alone. That’s 85.5 tons! And we’re still asking for volunteers because the litter is never-ending. We hope that each volunteer knows how appreciated they are, and not just by us. The hard work that they put in truly makes Limestone County a better place.
Not only do we have an amazing volunteer base, but we also have equally amazing support from local businesses. TVA supports annual Trash Attacks at the Tennessee and Elk River. United Pest and Turf Control in Ardmore is hosting their 9th annual Spring Clean. In’Tech Medical sent employees to the TVA Trash Attack. Shape Corp hosted a company cleanup. We are currently planning a cleanup with Harmon Scrap Metal. And then there’s businesses like JH Performance Lawn Care, Pressure Washing & Maintenance reaching out to reward individuals like Lukas Geiger who took the initiative to pull 28 tires from the Elk River.
I have to admit, my favorite volunteers are the kids. Adults know what we are doing and why we are doing it. You can literally watch it click when you work with kids. When you are working beside them, the same questions always come up — “Who would do this?” and “Why did they do this?” When you answer them, you say things like, “People who were being lazy,” “They didn’t know how it could hurt animals,” or “They didn’t care.” Kids almost always immediately begin to list the reasons why they wouldn’t litter, and try to find solutions to keep others from littering. In a way, they may be the most important volunteers we can have. They learn not to litter, which is a start to breaking the cycle.
If you can, we’d love to have you volunteer with us. We have several cleanups planned for this spring you can join. Or if you’d like to plan a cleanup with a specific group or club, we can do that too! We’ll even loan you all of the supplies if you want to go out on your own. We have plenty of supplies, and there’s plenty of litter.
By: Claire Tribble
Executive Director, Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful
March 21, 2025
