Volunteer groups begin spring cleaning in the community

By Jenna Wilson

With the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight coming into town next week, local groups are asking for the community’s help in cleaning events taking place this weekend.

Beautify St. Joseph, a volunteer group that works to create cleaner neighborhoods for the St. Joseph community, is starting its spring cleaning Downtown near Frederick Avenue and the Civic Arena.

“We want to make St. Joe look as nice as we can for all the visitors that are coming from all over the country,” said Terry Turbak, chairperson of Beautify St. Joseph. “We do this each year in March when they come to town and we like to repeat that and kickstart our cleaning season with something that is really valuable to the community.”

Beautify St. Joseph and other community members will meet at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 22, near the 1600 block of Frederick Avenue to clean up trash from 10th Street to 28th Street.

They will clean around Civic Arena at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 23.

Whether it’s throwing a cup or straw out the window, it all contributes to the problem the city sees involving trash.

“One of the things that we find is that people think they can’t really do anything about the issue,” Turbak said. “We think everyone can do something. Everybody can be somebody that makes a difference and the best way to do that is to not throw it down in the first place. If it’s not on the ground, nobody has to pick it up.”

Beautify Saint Joseph wants to continue finding ways to make the community better, safer and cleaner for all the residents that live in St. Joseph, Turbak added.

“The best way to get everyone to help in doing this is by being an example and inspiring them to do the same thing. So, we get out and we put our backs into it, our hands and feet into it and we show people what can be done when just a handful of people get together and decide to make a difference.”

The volunteer group is planning a campaign called “No Trash Tuesdays” in April where every Tuesday of the month, the public is encouraged to avoid littering and to pick up any trash that they see on the ground.

“If you can organize something, get together with some friends, go to a park, walk around with a bag and pick up what you see,” Turbak said. “If everyone does this every Tuesday, it would make a huge dent in the problem all over town.”

The group’s various cleaning events and meetings can be found at beautifystjoseph.org. Volunteers are encouraged to get involved.