County-wide Earth Day event set for April 17
The third annual Clean Catoosa event, a countywide Earth Day initiative, will be held Saturday, April 17, from 9 a.m. to noon, with a tentative rain date of April 24.
The event is being held by LIFT Youth Center Inc., in conjunction with Catoosa County government, the city of Fort Oglethorpe, city of Ringgold, Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce, and other local groups and non-profits “to celebrate and contribute to the beauty of our environment,” LIFT said in a news release.
In the fall Clean Catoosa had 17 groups complete projects. A total of 249 people worked across the county, planting trees and flowers, shoveling mulch and gravel, cleaning creek banks and picking up 90 bags of trash, recycling, and general debris.
“Clean Catoosa participants did a lot of amazing work across the county in October of 2020,” the news release said. “Clean Catoosa is exactly the kind of event LIFT hopes to always be known for — one that empowers students and families to engage in caring for and improving our community.”
“The city of Fort Oglethorpe is very excited to be working with LIFT for the Clean Catoosa event,” City
Manager Molly Huhn said. “We have so many beautiful areas in our community and we are extremely grateful to have many involved citizens who want to join in the efforts to keep Catoosa County clean.”
“In 2020, roadside trash increased greatly,” LIFT said in the news release. “In an effort to make a tangible positive impact on our county we will be increasing the scope of projects for Clean Catoosa in 2021. For the first time ever, Clean Catoosa will be doing three roaming road blocks for trash pick-ups. We are thrilled to have Catoosa County Public Works partnering with LIFT to make trash pickup projects on roads such as Holcomb possible. Currently, we have 29 clean-up and beautification projects planned with more possible should other groups wish to participate.”
“LIFT has definitely become a convener of resources and people within Catoosa County,” said Amy Jackson, Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. “The Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a part of the collaboration of public and private entities and individuals coming together to make our community shine as the jewel we know it to be as a part of Clean Catoosa 2021. This is what makes Catoosa County a great place to live, work, and play.”
LIFT Youth Center thanked the following local organizations and businesses “for all they have done and will do”: Lead sponsors — county and city governments, the county Chamber of Commerce, the Ringgold Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Teems Electric. Community sponsors — North Georgia Conservation District, True Life Chiropractic, and Pinkston’s Complete.
Tina Pinkston, LIFT’S executive director and the event coordinator for Clean Catoosa, said, “It is such a beautiful thing to watch our citizens, young and old, come
together for good causes like this. We will have groups from neighborhoods, from Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, from high school clubs and
teams, from businesses and existing groups of friends who wish to participate. LIFT will have enough student participants for three
projects this year. These group leaders and participants see a need and they know together we can do something about it.”