City hosting Earth Day cleanup Saturday; lunch planned for those who meet at Pavilion

Published 12:32 am Friday, April 22, 2022

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The City of Port Arthur on Saturday will host an Earth Day cleanup event in partnership with several local industries, schools and other entities.

From 8 a.m. to noon, volunteers will be going to various streets in the city and cleaning up before gathering for lunch.

“The cool part about that is we have partnered with industry, businesses, agencies, the community organizations, the Port of Port Arthur, the Port Arthur Independent School District and Lamar State College Port Arthur,” said Jennifer Edwards, capital improvements project manager for the city. “They’re going to provide some volunteers for us, and we’re going to give them their supplies.”

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Edwards said Motiva reached out and asked if the city would be interested in partnering for a cleanup event, and the city then reached out to other industries in the area that also joined by participating, donating or providing sponsorships.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity to get out of the office and to work with the community,” Edwards said. “And we thank the city (council) for giving us the opportunity to do this Earth Day cleanup. I think this is the first time that we’ve ever done this where we’ve worked with industry.”

After the cleanup, volunteers will be provided lunch and entered into a raffle for a recliner and other donated items.

Edwards said showing the residents of Port Arthur that the city cares about cleaning up is a high priority.

“Too many times they say we don’t do enough or this or that, and we just want to get out there and let them know that we care about how our city looks,” she said. “We want it to be clean, so we’re going to be cleaning up these thoroughfares.”

Mayor Thurman Bartie thanked Edwards and her team for spearheading the event.

Those interested in volunteering should meet at the Pavilion, 501 Procter Street, by 8 a.m.