NEWPORT, Tenn. ( WATE ) — Hurricane Helene left destruction behind on the shorelines of Douglas Lake. Six months later, nonprofit organization Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful kicked off a series of cleanup projects with support from over one hundred volunteers.
They call it their ‘River Grand Slam Clean up Series’ on Friday volunteers rode in 26-foot work boats to clean trash and debris from the shoreline.
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“We always say it’s important to get the trash out of the river, but it’s really showcasing what actually makes it into our waterways. So, raising that awareness and education is to us is much more important than just pulling the trash out. We don’t want to pull that trash out. We want to change the behavior that has trash get in our river,” explained Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful Executive Director Kathleen Gibi.
This is the organization’s seventh year focusing on areas specifically affected by natural disasters such as Hurricane Helene…