250 Volunteers Work to Clean Up La Porte

More than 400 trash bags of litter were collected Saturday morning during the La Porte County Community Cleanup Day event thanks to 250 volunteers across the county.

I am so impressed with how great the areas look that were cleaned,” said Alicia Ebaugh, educator for the La Porte County Solid Waste District, which sponsors the annual event in conjunction with Keep America Beautiful's Great American Cleanup. “Children and adults from all backgrounds came together to make a difference for our environment and quality of life.

The Solid Waste District provided supplies to groups that organized their own cleanups around the area, picking up litter and beautifying areas from Washington Park Beach to Meijer Drive. Those groups included County Commissioner Willie Milsap's Fifth Ward volunteers; Elston Middle School students, parents and staff; Evergreen Baptist Church youth group; Greater Michigan City Republican Club; Michigan City Ministerial Alliance and Community Men's Fellowship; Knapp School Parent Teacher Group; Westside Improvement Group; Village Green Neighborhood Association; Michigan City Park Department; the Girl Scout troops of Amie Methner and Jen Wyse; The Misfits of MC; Herr Loff; and several families that took on individual projects.

Families like Tracey Pollock's picked up litter in their own neighborhoods. It was the second year her family participated, cleaning up around Franciscan St. Anthony Hospital and Ames Field.

It takes a little work, but it's worth it,” Pollock said.

Herr Loff, a medieval roleplaying and combat group for La Porte youth, has cleaned up Fox Park each spring since before Community Cleanup Day started, said group leader Dale Ward. They now clean the park during the event each year. Not only did they pick up 10 trash bags full of litter, they also found three TVs, a tire, and even a washer in the woods behind Fox Park.

It looks like someone backed up and just started dumping trash,” Ward said. “There were computer screens broken back there and everything. Other than that, though, we had a great time. We plan on doing it every year -- this is how we want to start our season.”

Cleanups were also organized in La Porte and along county roads in between the two cities. Sean McKiel and his family collected more than 30 bags of litter along County Road 450 N near the Toll Road – along with an old door, a tire and other large items.

We were out there cleaning for four hours and covered one mile of road,” he said. “In some spots, there was enough to fill a whole bag right away, like someone just dumped trash there. If my road was like this, can you can imagine how all the other county roads must be? People don't think really about it, unless you live out here or drive through here...it feels good to have it cleaned up.”

The Solid Waste District worked closely with Refuse Inspector Connie Adams and the Michigan City Refuse Department to pick up all of the trash collected in Michigan City during the cleanup, and with Bob Blair’s work crew from the La Porte County Jail to pick up all litter collected elsewhere in the county. Several local businesses also contributed items to make the event successful, including Walmart, Hearthside Foods, Family Express, Lewis Bakeries, Al's Supermarket, and Burnham Glove Company.

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