One of the two volunteer groups at the Paris, Tenn. cleanup celebrates beside one of three trash boats filled up. This cleanup day marked the 3rd highest weight total in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s history.

Nearly 50 volunteers removed 25,145 lbs. (12.5 tons) of trash in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s 3rd annual ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO,’ a cleanup series that focused on four areas recently impacted by natural disasters.

The group of volunteers that cleaned up Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Ala. pose with the three boats they filled up with litter.

“Averaging over 500 pounds per volunteer over four cleanups is unheard of,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB). “These communities needed dedicated volunteers to help us cleanup after natural disasters like tornadoes and floods that have been hitting the region, and our volunteers answered the call in a big way.”

Gibi pointed out that the turnout for the April 8th Waverly, Tenn. cleanup was low because it began to snow just before the cleanup started. Nevertheless, four volunteers still came out to help the crew remove nearly 7,000 lbs. of trash.

Throughout the series, volunteers rode on KTNRB’s 26-foot work boat and five other 30-foot work boats brought in by the national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) to go clean shorelines. Gibi said LL&W’s assistance bolstered the efforts to maximize the cleanups’ results:

Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series Results

· March 26 Iuka, MS @ Pickwick Lake | 4,865 lbs. removed by 17 volunteers
The area was affected by flooding in 2019 & 2021.

· March 27 Rogersville, AL @ Wheeler Lake | 5,059 lbs. removed by 11 volunteers
The area was affected by an F-1 tornado in 2020.

· April 8 Waverly, TN @ Kentucky Lake | 6,911 lbs. removed by 4 volunteers
The area was affected by deadly flooding in 2021.

· April 9 Paris, TN @ Kentucky Lake | 8,310 lbs. removed by 15 volunteers
The area was affected by 2021 floods.

The four volunteers who came out to a river cleanup in snowy weather stand with one of the three trash boats they filled up in Waverly, Tenn. where the river was impacted by deadly flooding in 2021.

SERIES TOTAL: 25,145 lbs. removed

The cleanup in Paris, Tenn. made for the 3rd highest weight total for any cleanup hosted by KTNRB to date. KTNRB is following a record-breaking year in 2021 in which more than 700 volunteers removed more than 152,000 lbs. of trash at 45 cleanups. Following the Grand Slam River Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO, KTNRB is now at 58,077 lbs. removed with the help from 160 volunteers in 2022.

“To think that 50 volunteers were able to remove 25,000 lbs. of trash shows both the power of what a few can do and the scale of the need we have around litter prevention / extraction, said Casey Shedd, President at AFTCO. “AFTCO is very thankful for KTNRB and the volunteers that show up to make a difference.”

The cleanup series was also supported by funding from Tennessee Valley Authority and TDOT’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter prevention campaign. It also took place during Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup©. Through this far-reaching annual effort, Keep America Beautiful local affiliates host cleanups in more than 20,000 communities, engaging over five million volunteers during the months of March and April.

To see a full list of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s upcoming cleanup schedule, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups. To see AFTCO’s web site, please visit www.aftco.com.