There are all sorts of heroes in this world, and some of them are hardly noticed, yet deserve to be mentioned. The Tennessee River is infamous for being one of the dirtiest rivers in the US. Yet, in an epic clean-up weekend, several volunteers decided to remove about 9,200 pounds of garbage along the banks of the river. They were from the nonprofit organizations – Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, and Johnsonville State Historic Park.
But this was no isolated event, the team previously led a cleanup last October, where 4,811 pounds of trash was collected. However, more must be done, the team is planning another cleanup event in April, with the goal being to be able to collect at least 100,000 pound of garbage by the end of this year.
Cleaning our backyards and surroundings are already taxing, physically and mentally. Sometimes we avoid the chore for one reason or the other. Yet, these 25 volunteers did such a magnanimous endeavor by collecting 9,208 pounds of trash, with the help of KTNRB’s 25-foot aluminum work boat from Pebble Isle Marina. That’s roughly 368 pounds of trash per person. They adopted initially three miles of the river for those who wanted to continue the work on their own after this effort.
Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director, said, “That’s how the change for our river will happen: through local partners and individuals who are eager about taking ownership to protect and improve their beautiful river community.” when KTNRB hosted the October cleanup event, they partnered with national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters, who delivered five 30-foot work boats to remove the 4,811 pounds of garbage from the four cleanups.
Tennessee is blessed to have such volunteers, and surely Mother Nature is pleased. Some people really go out of their way to make life better, not just for themselves, but for all concerned. Simple heroes, nevertheless, truly heroic. Communities should get inspiration from these people, after all everybody desires a clean and safe environment. Again, the group plans another event in April, for those interested to know more, you can follow KTNRB on Facebook or check out their website.
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True Activist / Report a typo
