The Andalusia Chamber of Commerce, Opp Chamber of Commerce and the Covington County Emergency Management Agency are hard at work to make everything perfect for the ‘Don’t Drop It On Alabama cleanup initiative starting Fri., April 20, from 8 a.m. to noon.

“The ‘Don’t Drop It On Alabama’ cleanup initiative was started by Alabama PALS,” Covington County Spring cleanup liaison Frank 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.

“We are still trying to get the word out,” Shaffer said. “We need as many people out there helping as we can.

So far, Shaffer said that there are 20 teams signed up to help clean.

“This is a county-wide initiative,” Shaffer said. “So we need teams from all over the county. It’s not something that you have to register early for either, you can wake up early Friday morning and think ‘Hey, I want to do something to benefit the community today,’ and we will be out there waiting for you.”

Shaffer said that he has been communicating with Assistant Director of the Andalusia Chamber of Commerce Maggie Jones to come up with the kick off location.

“We thought it would be great to clean up Hwy. 84,” Shaffer said. “Since we are working so much with the Andalusia Chamber and Opp Chamber we thought that Hwy. 84 would be beneficial for the entire county.”

Those who sign up to work with the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce will be treated to breakfast and provided with gloves, Jones said. Links for online sign-up are available on their Facebook page.

“Students are out of school that day, so we have a lot of kids signing up to get community service hours,” she said.

Students who are not yet in high school should be accompanied by a parent or other adult, Jones said.

“This is a great way to get some hours and help beautify our community,” she said.

Shaffer said that PowerSouth has donated vests for volunteers to use as a safety measure, the Alabama Department of Transportation and the sheriff’s department will have trucks for safety and Bailey’s Pharmacy will be on hand in case anyone has an allergic reaction.

“Since this is a county wide initiative, we want everyone from the county to be involved,” Shaffer said. “And since this is on a school holiday, we really want to see a lot of students come and volunteer.”

The rest of the week is filled with different themed days to help clean up the community.

• Sat., April 21 and Sun., April 22 – “Weekend Winners”- encouraging residents to set aside time on the holiday weekend to clean up their areas.
• Mon., April 23 – “Miracle Mile Makers”- all groups work on a mile of their choosing.
• Tue., April 24 – “Truck Route Takedown”- groups will work on the truck routes in their areas.
• Wed., April 25 – “What does my property look like?”- individuals area encouraged to look at their own property and work on “neighbor to neighbor clean up,” cleaning up their property from one neighbor to the next.
• Thu., April 26 – “Through Town”-teams will make an effort to walk through town and do a pick-up to beautify their city or town.
• Fri., April 27 – “For Our Friends Friday”, teams will try to find an area outside of the area they signed up for, to help their neighboring communities with this effort.
• Sat., April 28 – “Grand Slam Saturday”, teams finishing up the week with a Home Run of pick-up, covering parks, churches, and local school campuses.