A countywide cleanup effort will be held throughout Pearl River County on Saturday.

The effort is a collaboration between representatives of Keep Picayune Beautiful and the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors.

There will be two kickoff events that will take place simultaneously Saturday starting at 8 a.m.

Christy Goss with Keep Picayune Beautiful said the kickoff event in Picayune will take place at Crosby Commons, during which volunteers can pick up safety vests, trash grabbers and garbage bags or buckets. Any volunteer who checks out a trash grabber and/or bucket is asked to bring it back to Crosby Commons at noon.

Pearl River County Board of Supervisors President Sandy Kane Smith said a ceremony will take place in the parking lot of Pearl River Central High School Saturday at 8 a.m. for residents who live north of Picayune. There, volunteers can also receive bags and trash grabbers.  Smith said that people who pick up trash outside of Picayune are invited to go to Crosby Commons at noon and participate in the wrap up event. Goss said that volunteers who assist with the cleanup on Saturday will be provided with lunch at Crosby Commons.

Anyone who feels they won’t be able to make the morning ceremony can contact their county supervisor prior to Saturday to receive trash bags and a trash grabber, Smith said.

Sites to dispose of the collected trash outside of Picayune will include the Carriere Volunteer Fire Department at 7414 Highway 11, Derby Volunteer Fire Department at 93483 Highway 11 S. Poplarville and the Emergency Operations Center in Poplarville at the intersection of Hgihway 11 and Highway 26.

Sites to dispose of collected trash in Picayune’s city limits will include Mildred Mitchell Park on Daniels Street, Leola Jordan Park on East Canal Street, JP Johnson Park on Rosa Street, Osborn Road, Witthauer Avenue, near the bridge over the Hobolochitto Creek on Beech Street and Crosby Commons. 

A final planning meeting is set for 10 a.m. in City Hall in Picayune on Wednesday. The public is invited to attend.

Cleanup events also take place weekly within Picayune. Goss said that she and other city of Picayune employees and community members take 20 minutes out of their day each Thursday at 2 p.m. to pick up trash at some location within the city.

Everyone in the community is invited to either join the city employees at a predetermined spot announced on the Keep Picayune Beautiful Facebook page, or pick up trash in their own area.