Adoption lets students clean up streets

by Natalie Hideg
FOR THE POST

Ohio University students do not have to wait until they are older to adopt.

Athens' Adopt a Street program is a city-run project to promote community togetherness and to help keep the city streets clean, said Melissa Knight, director of the program and executive assistant to Athens Mayor Ric Abel. The program is based on the national Adopt a Highway program.

Anyone can participate, including individuals, but so far only campus organizations have expressed an interest. The program has been running for about six years, Knight said.

The groups who want to adopt a street choose their adoptee from a city map. Once a street is chosen, the groups receive a packet with an agreement that both the president of the organization and Abel sign, she said.

"(The goals) are to help out the community and keep the streets clean," Knight said.

The city supplies the bags and also picks up the trash once it has been cleaned and bagged, she said.

If the sponsors continue to clean the streets regularly and show interest in the program, the city will post a sign on that street with the name of their organization on it. The sign stays up for two years, which is the length of the contract, Knight said.

"It's a matter of whether they're really interested or not," she said.

One incentive to participate in this program is to promote recognition by having the name of the organization on the sign.

The Sigma Kappa sorority adopted Mill Street about five years ago and set a standard for themselves to clean it at least once a quarter, said Mary Wyant, Sigma Kappa president.

"We just (clean) until we feel it looks better," she said. "We just try to do what we can."

The Adopt a Street program saves the city money in the long run because, without volunteers, the city would have to pay more employees to clean up, Knight said. The city does not always have time for the workers to clean the streets.

Workers are paid about $20 for each hour of their eight-hour shifts, said Jimmy Stewart, city auditor. They clean the streets about three times a week.

Court Street is not an option for this program because the city already has a street crew that cleans it every Sunday. But other main streets Uptown, such as Union or Congress, can be adopted.

Regardless of how large the street is, Knight said she encourages people to adopt.

"If they're involved in something like that, they're less likely to throw something out themselves," she said.