 More than 150,000 southern and eastern Kentuckians have volunteered in a region-wide environmental cleanup and education campaign. On July 18, 2005, Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, the nonprofit organization that coordinates the campaign, released its annual report on volunteerism and solid waste collection.
Since PRIDE began in 1997, the following progress has been made in improving the environment in the 38-county region:
• 156,441 volunteers have worked 496,058 hours picking up trash and helping with environmental education projects in local schools.
• 2,228 illegal dumps have been cleaned by volunteers and local governments.
• 380,198 bags of trash and 101,275 tons of trash have been removed from illegal dumps, waterways and roadsides.
• 863,440 old tires and 152,296 scrapped appliances have been collected for proper disposal.
“The PRIDE initiative is a grassroots movement that is not showing any signs of slowing down,” said U.S. Representative Hal Rogers (KY-5), who co-founded PRIDE. “Every year, more and more people come together to rid our region of the trash that was dumped on our lands and waterways before we fully understood the repercussions of those actions. We created our pollution problems but now, thanks to thousands of hard working volunteers and the PRIDE program, we are cleaning up our region and making it a better place to live and work.”
Today’s report included data reported to PRIDE as of July 7, 2005, by local PRIDE Coordinators and recipients of PRIDE grants that were used for cleanup projects and environmental education. PRIDE Coordinators are volunteers appointed by county judge-executives and mayors to organize PRIDE cleanup activities in their communities.
Also today, Eastern Kentucky PRIDE recognized the city, county and school with the greatest volunteer participation in the 2005 PRIDE Spring Cleanup, which took place April 9-23. The winners were the City of Hyden, Perry County and West Knox Elementary School. Trophies were presented to Hyden Mayor Eugene Stewart and PRIDE Coordinator Angie Muncy; Perry County Judge-Executive Denny Ray Noble and PRIDE Coordinators Charles Colwell and Rosa Couch; and West Knox Elementary teacher Jenny Iley.
Norma Thomas, an Owsley County resident, was honored as the PRIDE Volunteer of the Month for her contributions to the Spring Cleanup.
Each spring, PRIDE designates a two-week period for a region-wide Spring Cleanup. Local governments organize cleanup events in their communities and mobilize volunteers to clean illegal dumps, roadsides and waterways. PRIDE provides gloves, safety vests and T-shirts for the volunteers. Cities and counties can use PRIDE Community Grants to fund their Spring Cleanup events.
PRIDE — Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment — was created in 1997 by Rogers and the late General James Bickford, the former Kentucky Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. PRIDE encourages and assists communities to improve water quality, clean up dumps and promote environmental education. PRIDE is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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