Support continues to grow for one local organization’s goal of beautifying Carter County.

Several volunteers spent the morning hours Saturday, Oct. 21, participating in Carter County Proud’s fall cleanup of Milligan Highway – the organization’s adopted highway through a program with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Departing from Happy Valley Elementary, the morning netted positive results with over 30 bags of trash being scooped up, along with bulk items.

“We could not do this without our volunteers,” said Ed Jordan, Carter County Proud founder. “It is great to see people coming together to help beautify our community.”

Tagging along with the regular volunteers were students from Milligan College. Individuals took participated in the event were Mark Stair, Caroline Bivins, Gabrielle Eierman, Elijah Pless, Christion Longoria, Eden Huhn, Matthew Silva, Michelle Herrera, Tensai Hoffman Elyse Ohlinger, Carter County Commissioner Ross Garland, Katherine Hall and Kathy Jordan.

“One of our biggest focuses is to encourage to encourage the youth of the community to get involved with the cleanup,” said Jordan. “Milligan College has provided us with support. Students from the Bartleby program at Elizabethton High School are also helping us out with different projects. It’s great to see the involvement.”

Jordan also thanked Elizabethton Chief of Police Jason Shaw for assisting the cleanup by providing extra police patrol during the morning.

Positivity has circulated throughout the organization. Jordan said the recent passage of the resolution by the Carter County Commission controlling litter, garbage, refuse, rubbish and abandoned structures will be a key asset for the county.

“There’s so much that goes into monitoring garbage and litter cleanup in our community,” the founder said. “How many economic dollars have we missed out on from litter being on the side on the road or on our trails? We appreciate the Carter County Commission moving forward with the resolution to help control the issue and we’re looking forward to seeing the progress in the future.”