What:               The fifth annual Village Creek cleanup began Wednesday and will conclude on Saturday, Sept. 18 with a community cleanup from 8:30 a.m. to noon.  Volunteers are asked to help with the Saturday cleanup. Volunteers will meet at Avenue M and 11^th Street at Moro Park in Ensley.  Lunch will be served immediately after the cleanup.

                        Volunteers from the Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Department are assisting in the in-creek cleanup Wednesday through Friday.

Overview:         The Village Creek Society is coordinating this Renew Our Rivers cleanup in partnership with the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Department, Birmingham Public Works Department, Vulcan Materials and Alabama Power. In 2009, about 230 volunteers removed nearly 10.5 tons of trash and debris. Since 2006, volunteers have removed more than 45 tons of trash from the creek.

Volunteers for Renew Our Rivers, one of the Southeast’s largest river cleanups, have collected more than 10 million pounds of trash and debris from Alabama and Southeast rivers since the program’s inception in 2000. Twenty-nine cleanups are held each year from February through October on Alabama rivers and streams, including the Cahaba, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Black Warrior, Mobile and Alabama rivers.

Contact:           For more information, contact Dr. Mable Anderson, Village Creek Society, at  205-798-0087.  

News Media Contact:  Hallie Bradley, 205-257-4155