Great American Cleanup set for Saturday

CLOVIS — The citizens of Clovis will once again take to the streets on Saturday for the first of its two annual cleanup efforts to remove some of the city’s trash.

The Great American Cleanup, scheduled for 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, is held every spring along with the Trek for Trash every fall in an effort to clean up trash in the streets and parks of Clovis.

Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes said on Thursday that eight teams have already signed up to take part in this year’s Great American Cleanup, though she expects more teams to sign up before Saturday.

“We are anticipating a good turnout on Saturday to help pick up trash in the community,” Burroughes said. “(We) just want to encourage the public to come out and join us.”

Burroughes said last year’s Great American Cleanup turned out 199 volunteers who filled 382 bags of trash, amounting to 128 tons of garbage removed from the streets of Clovis in one morning.

Curry county residents can also take part in their own private cleanup efforts this weekend as there will once again be free dumping, including tires, though there is a limit of nine per family, at the Clovis landfill from noon today until noon on Monday for county residents.

The Great American Cleanup is funded partly by the New Mexico Clean & Beautiful grant, a program put on by the New Mexico Tourism Department.

Burroughes said the city received $2,000 in grant funding to put towards Saturday’s cleanup efforts and the city of Clovis also designated $10,000 towards the costs of the two annual cleanup efforts and the Yard of the Month program.

Humphrey Rd., Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Brady Ave., Norris St. Llano Estacado Blvd. are among the areas Burroughes said the volunteers will be picking up trash on Saturday.

She said organizers try to find the areas of Clovis with the most trash, in addition to cleaning up the entryways into the city.

“(We) try to put our best efforts into improving the appearance of entryways to the community, they are the gateways to our town,” Burroughes said.

Volunteers on Saturday are instructed to register and pick up their free Great American Cleanup T-shirt starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Clovis Parks and Recreation Department, 500 Sycamore, before the cleanup begins at 8 a.m.

Participants will meet back the building at noon for a free pizza lunch and to hand out awards to the teams that pick up that most trash.