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By: Ora Nelson

The Opp Chamber of Commerce is hosting its own “Clean Up Opp” campaign throughout July.

Every spring, the Opp Chamber would partner with the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce and Covington County to participate in the ALPALS (Alabama People Against A Littered State) Clean Up Alabama campaign. Due to COVID-19, the traditional campaign couldn’t begin and pushed back the end of the mass clean up through the end of July.

“This year, COVID[-19] hit and we could not do a joint clean up,” said Kelly Brandin, executive administrator of the Opp and Covington County Area Chamber of Commerce. “So I decided, after presenting it to my board, that the Opp Chamber was going to encourage an Opp and Covington County cleanup and just try to remind people to work within the parameters set by the state of Alabama and the Health Department.”

“I’m hopeful that this year’s event will gain some traction and we’ll have some good participation,” said Brandin.

Brandin suspects the pandemic and high temperatures will curb participation in the clean up this year.

Last year, Opp had between 15-20 businesses and organizations participate in the city-wide cleanup.

“I’ve seen an impact in the community since we started [participating in the cleanup campaign],” said Brandin. “I’ve seen several businesses help [clean up], like all the local banks pitched in and would clean up. The Opp Rotary Club would choose an area of Opp and clean it up. I had a daycare last year, Kids World, clean up. They’d have their employees go out at a certain time of the day to a specific area.”

Businesses and organizations in the Opp community only need to fill out a one-page form to participate in the campaign.

The form includes information like the names of the people who will participate in clean up, the areas you plan to clean up, the days you plan to clean and the total number of bags collected by those on the form.

The Opp Chamber will be providing trash bags allotted for this specific clean-up project at its office.

The “Clean Up Opp and Covington County Campaign” form can be found at both the Opp Chamber of Commerce’s website and Facebook page. The Opp Chamber of Commerce can be contacted at 334-493-3070.