JACKSON – Teams of residents representing local school, civic, social, sports and religious organizations will fan out across Jackson on June 11 to clear debris and litter from more than two dozen roads as part of the statewide Clean Communities Day environmental initiative.
“They will be out there Saturday,” said Joeylynn Anderson, who coordinates Clean
Communities Day for the township.
The township-wide volunteer event is sponsored by the Jackson Township Clean
Communities program, according to Anderson, who said the township received state
funding for the litter cleanup. A portion of the funding will go to supplies for the cleanup
and grants to each nonprofit participating community group.
“We get a grant from the state every year and we can use it for road cleanup, litter
abatement, litter enforcement, to put garbage cans in the parks, anything having to
do with litter,” said Anderson, who is the recreation/special events coordinator for the
township.
According to its Facebook page, New Jersey Clean Communities is a statewide litter
abatement program created by the Clean Communities Act in 1986. Municipalities
and counties receive Clean Communities grants in the form of state aid each year.
The initiative aims to reduce litter on public places, promote the volunteer cleanup
of public lands and sustain a reduction in litter through education.
This year, Jackson received a $114,000 Clean Communities grant from the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to fund litter abatement initiatives
and a portion of the funding is allocated for the road cleanup, Anderson said.
Organizations that participate were offered $500 mini-grants to participate and
to clean up 1 mile of a road that has been designated for the cleanup.
“More than two dozen roads throughout Jackson are slated for the cleanup.
It’s doable,” Anderson said. “We assign the roads and we have 27 roads we are
doing.”
The cleanup teams represent a cross section of Jackson, she said.
Anderson said the roads that are designated for the cleanup are selected based on conditions that have been observed.
“For some roads we get a report of litter,” she said, “I drive around and look for roads with
litter and in some cases our public works (employees) will report littered areas.”
Representatives of each participating community group will begin the day by picking up supplies at the Jackson Senior Center at 9 a.m. June 11.
“They have already been given their road assignments. They get their supplies, we
give them garbage bags, gloves, bug spray, garbage pickers. They have until 1 p.m.
“When they are done, they tie up the bags of litter, leave them on the side of the road
and public works employees will go out and pick them up.
“We do this cleanup at least twice a year in the spring and fall. We try to do that, it
depends on when the grant money is allocated,” she said.
To be eligible to participate and receive the grant funding, a community group
must have nonprofit status. Groups that are not nonprofit may participate and receive supplies, but not a grant.
According to Anderson, there is always a large turnout for Clean Communities Day.
“Kids and grown-ups, there are a lot of Boy Scout troops, there are a lot of Girl Scout
troops,” she said. “Every group has to send me a photo of their group cleaning up
a road during the event. I have a ton of them.”
The groups participating in Jackson’s 2022 Clean Communities Day are the American Legion, Knights of Columbus, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Cub Scout packs 82 and 204, Boy Scout troops 82 and 204, Jackson Friends of the Library, Porter Plus and Jackson Women of Today.
School groups are the Jackson Memorial High School Football Parents Club, girls
volleyball, girls lacrosse, Interact Club, soccer, wrestling, football and Student
Council.
Representing Jackson Liberty High School will be members of the cheer team and
boys soccer.
Also, Jackson Soccer Inferno U13, Cosmos Red, Team Blaze, Inferno White, Jackson
Soccer Club Rage, Team Revolution and Jackson Thunder 12U.