A countywide cleanup effort is slated for April, in conjunction with the “Don’t Drop It On Alabama” statewide spring cleanup month.

Frank Shaffer of the Emergency Management Agency is Covington County’s spring cleanup liaison.

“The ‘Don’t Drop It On Alabama’ cleanup initiative was started by Alabama PALS,” Shaffer said. “Clubs from the community will come together and clean campuses and the community.”

The Alabama People Against A Littered State (ALPALS) is a statewide organization dedicated to making the state more beautiful by sponsoring programs focused on cleaning up litter in Alabama’s streets, streams, campuses and coastlines.

“There are several different programs that ALPALS has,” Shaffer said, “including Adopt a Mile, Adopt-An-Area, Adopt-A-Stream, Clean Campus Program and Coastal Cleanup.”

Shaffer hopes that the community can come together and participate in this program.

The statewide cleanup will be from Sat., April 21 to Sat., April 28, but Shaffer is promoting an idea that will help students and the community come together a day earlier.

“We are looking to plan a day where the entire community can come out and clean up the county,” Shaffer said. “Fri., April 20, from 8 a.m. to noon is what we have come up with because students and teachers will be out of class on that day, so we hope to have a lot of student involvement.”

Shaffer, Maggie Jones, Susan Harris, Chrissie Duffy from the Andalusia Chamber of Commerce and Kelly Braden from the City of Opp Chamber of Commerce have all teamed up to plan a successful cleanup week.

The team plans to come up with a kick off location this week where participants will be able to pick up safety vests and garbage bags.

As far as safety goes, Shaffer has spoken to the sheriff’s department and they have confirmed that there will be patrol units for safety.

The team has also come up with themes for each day of the week.

“Starting Sat., April 21, we will start our themed days with Weekend Winners, where each group will do their part in cleaning up the community,” Shaffer said.

The rest of the themed days include:

• Mon., April 23 – Miracle Mile Makers, where groups will clean up a specific stretch of road,
• Tue., April 24 – Truck Route Takedown, where groups will clean different truck routes,
• Wed., April 25 – What Does My Property Look Like, where people will work on their individual homes and expect their neighbors to clean their yard as well,
• Thu., April 26 – Through Town, where groups will have a chance to walk through their hometown and clean up,
• Fri., April 27 – Our Friends Friday, where groups will clean up areas where they aren’t necessarily assigned.
• Sat., April 28 – Grand Slam Saturday, where groups will clean up parks, school campuses and churches.