By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Every now and then it pays to pick up someone else’s litter — just ask LaPlace Rotary Club member Linda Stein.

While she and her fellow Rotary Club members were picking up trash along Belle Terre Boulevard in LaPlace as part of St. John Clean Sweep 2009, Stein uncovered a frayed and dirty $100 bill.

Not too far away on Highway 51, Lions Club member Melaynie Wright experienced a similar find when she came across a wallet containing a driver’s license and credit cards, but no cash. The billfold, which belongs to a Baton Rouge man, was turned over to St. John Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Noorwood, who was able to track down the owner.

The annual volunteer cleanup effort, sponsored by Keep St. John Beautiful, is a collaborative initiative of Parish President Bill Hubbard’s administration, the St. John Parish Council, the St. John Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s office.

“Our goal is not to pick up more, but to pick up less,” said District Attorney Tom Daley, chairman of the Keep St. John Beautiful Committee. “The more we spread awareness about keeping the parish clean, the better.”

Other groups that volunteered for the cleanup were: East St. John High Interact Club, Riverside Academy, Reserve Lions Club, Cargill, Charles Julien and friends, the West St. John Civic Association, the Old U.S. 51 Civic Association, the Belle Terre Civic Association, the Hickens group and R.J. Keller and friends.

Prior to the Clean Sweep, which was held May 2, inmate crews from the Sheriff’s Office swept through the eastbound and westbound lanes of Airline Highway from New Wine Ministries to Walnut Street picking up trash along the busy street.

The local effort is one of many throughout the state and nation that are a part of Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup Day. Keep St. John Beautiful received an $8,000 grant from Keep Louisiana Beautiful Inc. to help fund Clean Sweep 2009 activities.