Beaufort County volunteers rally for Earth Day cleanup; Emerging Leaders member hopes to top 9,000 pounds

Volunteers from across Beaufort County took to roadsides for an Earth Day cleanup, collecting litter along Highway 170 near Wichon Point and elsewhere in the county, the host of a Beaufort County report said.

Ashley, a member of Beaufort County’s Emerging Leaders program, said she had already signed up to volunteer and was helping the crew working the Highway 170 stretch. “I actually am part of the Emerging Leaders program here at Beaufort County, and we were asked if we would volunteer for today,” she said. She added that she had volunteered last year and that volunteers collected “over 9,000 pounds” of trash then; she said the crew hopes to beat that total this year.

The Emerging Leaders program, Ashley said, is open to employees from all county departments and organizes events throughout the year. Speaking from the roadside, she said the small portion of Highway 170 they had already worked produced a substantial amount of trash and that the team planned to continue collecting along the route.

Ashley also described a personal connection to the cleanup: she said she is a transplant from Pennsylvania and that Beaufort County’s waterfront landscape was a reason she moved there and wants to help keep it clean.

The segment closed with the host thanking Ashley and viewers and noting that the Beaufort County report will return with more coverage.