Keep VaHi Beautiful Group Sets Date for Spring Clean-Up, Seeks Volunteers
Volunteer Roger Harris cleans-up under a bench at the triangle while Bob Coomes chases down pesky weeds during last Fall's Keep VaHi Beautiful clean-up event.
Keep VaHi Beautiful, a group that formed last year to encourage VaHi residents and businesses to focus on keeping the neighborhood as clean and tidy as possible, will hold its second major clean-up event on Saturday April 13 from 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. The event is part of the group’s efforts to get the neighborhood looking as good as possible prior to this year’s 30th anniversary Summerfest.
Highland Tap will be supporting the clean-up event by providing Krispy Kreme donuts for early-arriving volunteers. In addition, volunteers will receive vouchers from Highland Tap good for either one complimentary beer, or a hamburger or chicken sandwich with fries or onion rings and a non-alcoholic beverage for the discounted price of $6. Volunteers can use the voucher at the post clean-up lunch to be held at Highland Tap. For those who can’t stay for lunch, the voucher will be good for 60 days from April 13.
Group co-chair Key Stephenson offers the following guidelines for volunteers and businesses who would like to help:
For volunteers:
- Meet at the triangle (intersection of N. Highland and Virginia) at 8:00 AM on Sat. April 13. If you can’t be there at 8:00 am, join when you can.
- Bring work gloves, rakes, weed spray, gas powered weed whackers, small scrapers for sticker removal, etc.
- Trash bags and latex gloves will be provided.
- Parents, please consider bringing (or volunteering) your teens to help. This event would make a good volunteer project for any youth group or to help meet high school service requirements.
- Can’t make it on the 13th? Go for a walk in the neighborhood any day. Take a trash bag and pick up litter as you go.
For business owners:
- Volunteer staff to work the event alongside residents.
- Hire someone to do extra clean up around your business.
- Donate supplies or refreshments for volunteers to use during the event.
- Consider what you can do to improve the appearance of your storefront – perhaps it’s time for some new planters and spring plants. See Mica at Intown Ace Hardware for guidance on what to plant.
- Don’t neglect parking areas. This is often the first thing your patrons see when driving into the neighborhood.
- Partner with nearby businesses and hire someone to do regular cleanup of your whole block, or shared parking area.
- Make sure trash is making it all the way into the dumpster and dumpster doors/lids are kept closed.
- Have graffiti on your building? Contact the Graffiti Task Force for help at [email protected].
Questions? Contact Kay Stephenson [email protected] (404) 431-2603 or Tim Langan [email protected] (678) 464-7268.
To like the group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeepVirginiaHighlandBeautiful.
Click here to read about the group’s first community clean-up event, held last October.