Volunteers Sought For Annual Rivers Alive Cleanup Event

ALPHARETTA, GA — Join hundreds of volunteers for the 33rd Annual Rivers Alive.

The Alpharetta event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 16. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., participants can pick up their supplies for the project selected at Rock Mill Park, 3100 Kimball Bridge Road in Alpharetta. Following a brief gathering with announcements at 8:45 a.m., volunteers will dispatch to identified projects and return to Rock Mill Park by 11:30 a.m. with collected litter and debris for weighing, tallying, and pictures.

Volunteers are asked to pre-register by emailing tporter@alpharetta.ga.us or by calling 678-410-4718.

Volunteers will help remove litter and debris from streams, greenways, and roadways; stencil storm drains; and other projects. This is a way for families, scout troops, service groups and individuals to make an impact on the community’s waterways. Projects will be arranged with pre-registration.

The mission of Rivers Alive is to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources. Harold Harbert, watershed outreach manager with the Environmental Protection Division, reports that last year, more than 10,000 volunteers cleaned over 900 miles of waterways and removed 274,460 pounds of trash and garbage, including tires, plastic bottles, shopping carts and refrigerators from Georgia's waterways. The 2021 Rivers Alive event is expected to involve thousands of new and returning volunteers and continue to lead as one of the South's largest waterway cleanup efforts.

DataScan is sponsoring the Alpharetta Rivers Alive Event.

Statewide sponsors providing generous financial support and assisting with local cleanups include International Paper, Georgia Power, Burns & McDonnell Foundation, Enterprise Holdings Foundation, Perdue Farms, Southwire Company, Wild Heaven Beer, Fieldale Farms Poultry, JDS Inc., Eversheds Sutherland, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, and Zee Company. Dozens of other local organizations will be sponsoring individual cleanups around the state.

All participants are asked to wear a face covering and to observe social distancing and other appropriate safety measures throughout the event.

This Rivers Alive Cleanup is brought to the public by the City of Alpharetta and the Alpharetta Natural Resource Commission. Visit online to learn more about Georgia Rivers Alive.