By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish officials and the Keep St. John Beautiful Committee will honor April as Keep St. John Beautiful Month by promoting a cleaner and more beautiful community with the Leaders Against Litter statewide event and the eighth annual Spring Clean Sweep.

To kick off cleanup efforts, 50 local elected officials and community leaders will join more than 600 leaders across the state for the Leaders Against Litter Golden Litter Grab on Friday, April 11. Efforts are aimed at bringing awareness to the litter problem in Louisiana.

Sponsored by Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, in conjunction with Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Volunteer Louisiana, the Golden Litter Grab will bring Louisiana leaders together to help beautify and clean their individual towns on the same morning.

The Keep St. John Beautiful committee, including Chairman Tom Daley and member Greg Maurin, assembled a local team of leaders to join in cleanup efforts in St John Parish. The group will travel beginning at 9 a.m. from the River Parishes Chamber of Commerce Building in LaPlace to the Percy Hebert Government Building collecting litter using golden grabbers and wearing gold t-shirts. Later in the day, Dardenne will announce the total results of all cleanup efforts statewide at a press conference at the State Capitol.

Then on Saturday, the eighth annual St. John Spring Clean Sweep will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and will consist of a parishwide cleanup day involving government agencies, neighborhood associations, civic groups, schools and churches.

The Clean Sweep Committee has targeted major thoroughfares for cleaning but encourages residents to clean areas around their homes and businesses. Churches and neighborhood associations are also asked to pitch in with a focus on neighborhoods in which they are located. All participants are invited back to Highway 51 Park in LaPlace at 11:30 a.m. for free food, refreshments and a group photo in appreciation of the volunteer work and commitment to keeping St. John beautiful.

Please contact Dana Milioto in advance at 985-652-9569 to reserve specific neighborhoods or public areas to clean. Supplies can be picked up in advance on April 11 at the Percy Hebert Building or on the morning of April 12 at Highway 51 Park.