Volunteers Needed to Clean and Beautify During Great American Cleanup

For more than 20 years, volunteers have improved the Tampa Bay area during Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup.

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful is currently recruiting volunteers, site captains, area managers and local sponsors for the beautification effort across Hillsborough County with the main event taking place Saturday, April 27.

The theme – Green Starts Here – is a call to action to create more sustainable communities by focusing volunteer efforts on activities surrounding waste reduction, recycling, beautification and community greening.

Projects may include: community gardens (butterfly, vegetable, etc.), habitat restoration, invasive plant removal, litter-free events, litter cleanups (rivers, roadways, shorelines, parks, underwater dives, etc.), landscape maintenance and planting (weeding, trimming, etc.), playground/park equipment restoration (painting, mulching, etc.), recycling initiatives (recycle drives, Go Green Night, art contests, etc.), storm drain marking and tree plantings/give-away.

Any individual, family, school, group, place of worship, business or government entity can coordinate or participate. Volunteers of all ages are welcome, although there is a restriction of 12 or older for projects along a roadway.

 Throughout this week, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful is partnering with CSX to give away trees during leading up to the Great American Cleanup. Contact Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful to find out how you can pick up your free 3-gallon crape myrtle. Trees are available while supplies last.

Then, on Saturday, April 27, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful’s volunteers will  beautify and green their neighborhoods by planting trees, flowers and community gardens, and clean up litter and debris from public lands throughout the bay area.

Among the locations volunteers will be cleaning up and beautifying are:

• Alafia River State Park, 14326 S. County Road 39, Lithia
• Thompson Road, 9625 Canoe Launch Loop, Lithia
• Riverview Civic Center, 11020 Park Dr., Riverview 

For more locations and information on how you can be a part of the 2013 Great American Cleanup, visit KeepTampaBayBeautiful.org or call 813-221-8733.

Is your organization taking part in this year's Great American Cleanup? Post photos of your volunteer efforts here.