March means basketball in Kentucky, and April means PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month in southern and eastern Kentucky.

“While we’re enjoying basketball in March, local PRIDE Coordinators also are drawing up game plans and recruiting volunteers for a hometown victory against litter in April,” said Tammie Wilson of PRIDE, the nonprofit organization that coordinates the annual Spring Cleanup across 38 counties.

Clinton County Spring Cleanup team will be led by Lyle Norris and Tuesday Davis, who are the county’s PRIDE Co-Coordinators.

“Volunteering during Spring Cleanup Month is important because we need to make sure our county is clean and welcoming,” Davis said. “It shows how proud we are of our small county.”

“Last April was a record-breaking Spring Cleanup, with 33,409 Spring Cleanup volunteers, who netted 36,445 bags of trash and an additional 27,513 tons of trash across our region,” Wilson said.

“It all starts with one cleanup and one volunteer–you–so please plan to volunteer for your local Spring Cleanup activities,” Wilson said. “To learn about volunteer opportunities, stay tuned to your local media and www.kypride.org.”

“You will be ‘Saving Our World, One Cleanup at a Time,’ just like it says on the free T-shirts that will be given to Spring Cleanup volunteers while supplies last,” Wilson added.

PRIDE Coordinators are volunteers who are appointed by mayors and judge/executives. They work with the PRIDE staff to organize cleanup activities, recruit volunteers and track cleanup results.

PRIDE Coordinators now are planning each community’s Spring Cleanup activities. They will recruit volunteers for events they schedule and assist volunteers who want to plan their own cleanups. Some communities also will offer free trash disposal events or clean up illegal dumps during Spring Cleanup. PRIDE will provide volunteer T-shirts, cleanup supplies and funding assistance for local governments.

The region-wide Spring Cleanup is made possible by a grant to PRIDE from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and by these sponsors: Waste Connections of Kentucky (Gold Sponsor), Outdoor Venture Corporation (Silver Sponsor), New Horizon Graphics (Bronze Sponsor), Lightyear Network Solutions (Bronze Sponsor), and Owens Auto and Truck Parts of Corbin (Bronze Sponsor).

To volunteer for the Spring Cleanup in Clinton County, please call Lyle Norris at 688-2288 or Tuesday Davis at 387-4633.

By Sunday, April 1, a list of local Spring Cleanup events will be available by choosing Clinton County at www.kypride.org/calendar.

(Additional information on the local Spring Cleanup in Clinton County will be published in next week’s Clinton County News.)