200 Hundred-Plus Bags And 2 Dumpsters Full Of Trash Collected By 3 Dozen Volunteers In Concord: Follow-Up

CONCORD, NH — For the second year in a row, dozens of Concord residents spent a couple of hours on Saturday picking up trash at the southeastern gateway to the city.

About three dozen volunteers picked up trash in two locations: Along Water Street from Exit 13 to Gulf Street and from the Water Street Bridge to South Main Street and Gas Street.

Jeff Foote, the Ward 10 Concord city councilor, said the turnout was great for the cleanup. Last year, about 150 bags of trash were collected. This year, Foote said, more than 200 bags of trash were collected. Two dumpsters were also filled on Gas Street. Several city councilors, Mayor Byron Champlin, and other volunteers, including a judge and a journalist, were involved in the effort.

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Volunteers working between Exit 13 and Water and Gulf streets picked up a lot of litter, while those tackling the area around the railroad tracks and Gas Street focused on both litter and mounds of trash left by homeless campers. A private company hired a utility tractor and a small excavator to plow up the trash abutting the businesses on Gas and South Main streets.

Even after several hours, a lot of trash remained.

Not unlike last year, members of the city’s homeless community were noticeably missing from the effort. This year, several people, including a local business owner, reportedly reached out to homeless advocacy agencies, offering to pay people in need gift cards for food if they would help out, but none lent a hand or attended.

Several community members also spoke about the need to get out into the community more than once a year to pick up litter and trash.

Foote said there was a good chance he would try to set up a second pickup in the fall.

Ward 6 City Councilor Aislinn Kalob said she and Ward 7 City Councilor Jim Schlosser were also considering organizing additional cleanup efforts in the future.

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