September 18-19 will give residents of the Demopolis area an opportunity to help improve the environment by volunteering for the annual Renew Our Rivers event on the Demopolis Lake. The Friday and Saturday events will start both says at 7 a.m.
Crews will be in boats cleaning up the river as well as on land cleaning up the debris that will eventually get into the river system if it is not cleaned up.
Led by Greene County Alabama Power Plant, volunteers are asked to meet at the pavilion at the Demopolis City Landing.
“We want to get kids out, pick up trash and let them see it in a different way,” said Plant Greene County Community Specialist Jesse Johnson.
The Lake Demopolis cleanup was first conducted in 2005. The Renew Our Rivers program has allowed 374,833 pounds of trash to be removed from the Lake Demopolis area in the past ten years. This number is largely contributed to volunteers from APC employees, school age children, youth groups, cub scouts, civic groups and citizens who want to make a difference.
The first community cleanup under the Renew Our Rivers program took place in 2000 and since over 13.5 million pounds of trash has been removed from the Alabama waterways thanks to over 56,000 volunteers.
Cleanups are held on the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Black Warrior, Cahaba, and Mobile Rivers in Alabama and the Upper Coosa River in Georgia.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Jesse Johnson at 334-289-6160 or 251-238-1257. For more information on the history of Renew Our Rivers, visit www.renewourrivers.com.
Lunch will be served to volunteers on both days.