DENTSVILLE, S.C. — Dozens of people were picking up trash along the road in Richland County for Spotless Service Saturday.
Keep The Midlands Beautiful, a nonprofit that works to beautify Lexington and Richland counties, organized the event.
Program Manager Adriana Diotalevi said the windy weather the Midlands saw on Friday can blow the bits of trash around, making it easier to see and encouraging efforts to pick up.
“The storm knocks around everything and either makes it easier or worse, but sometimes it's for the better,” Diotalevi said, smiling. “We want the world to be around for as long as we can get it there, so it's important to make sure your area's clean. And just having a sense of pride in your community and seeing the difference we make definitely makes it all worth it.”
About 40 people registered for the pickup, including first-time volunteer Ashantiana O’Neal.
“I grew up to just never like litter or anything. So it's just like it's very surprising to me to see how much trash it is out here. But yeah, so I just - it definitely encourages me to tell other people not to litter and not to just be careless, if that makes sense,” O’Neal said. “It definitely humbled me a lot. You know, wow, like, that's crazy. But, you know, I feel like we need each other to make the world better. So it's like, you know, I just wish people would get this experience to know that too, you know?”
O’Neal and the other volunteers cleaned up an area of Two Notch Road and Barbara Road in Dentsville, which Keep The Midlands Beautiful said it identified during an analysis it does over the summer to find places with a lot of litter.
The next Spotless Service Saturday is on Feb. 24 from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.