284 volunteers doing 1,136 hours of work, collected a total of 19,820 pounds of trash during the the West Virginia Tread Lightly! Day for 2024. Needless to say this year surpassed all expectations. Absolutely blown away by the volume of trash and tires that was pulled out of the woods.
The night before the cleanup I rendezvoused with Jerry Bain and Senator Mark Maynard at Burning Rock Off-Road Park. This was the “VIP” location for this year’s cleanup. Our project location for the day was along the Bill Withers Memorial Road. Yes, THAT Bill Withers.
As I said. Not a very effective sign.
And some of the 1,000’s that were pulled out all across the state.
We were a small crew, and our efforts were focused on a small section of road, but that didn’t mean we didn’t pull out a ton of trash. The highlights of the day included a karaoke machines, a dishwasher, and what was left of a clothes dryer. Not to mention about two dozen tires of various sizes.
If you are not a member of Tread Lightly! I implore you to join. Unliked a lot of other non-profits that are content to “raise awareness” and then pocketing the funds, Tread Lightly! puts the money to use where it is needed. Over 90% of funds raised by Tread Lightly! go towards projects like this one and other projects across the country (here are some Tread Lightly! projects ECOA has been involved with in PA, VA, and WV). Even if you don’t want to pay to join you can still help out the cause by volunteering with upcoming projects in your area.
And more specifically: keep and eye out for West Virginia Tread Lightly! Day 2025 dates. Love to have you and your friends helping out.
Well done team, well done indeed!
