Harlan Kirgan
The forces against litter assembled Friday at the Eunice Municipal Complex in the third annual Leaders Against Litter event on Friday.
Donna Baltakis, director of Keep Eunice Beautiful, said 63 people signed in for Leaders Against Litter and 40 of those people hit the streets to gather 22 bags of letter.
There was one bag of 172 cigarette butts turned in, she said in an email.
“We had 40 volunteer hours cleaning up and another 30 volunteer hours or pre- and post- event set up. We really appreciated all the people who showed up to clean up as well as the city employees, police department, city marshal’s office and of course our mayor, Scott Fontenot who all came out to give their support!” she wrote.
“I appreciate the work of my KEB Board of Directors, Jacqueline Vallare, Andrea West, David Simpson, Fran Guillory, Connie Thibodeaux, Dale Francois as well as Garden Club members, Melba Stelly, Thuy Reber, Barbara Wells and Dean Deshotel,” she added.
The event is statewide and Baltakis said she was to report to the state the Eunice results by 11 a.m. Friday.
“Litter isn’t just throwing something out of your car window, which too many people do,” she said. “It is cigarette butts. It is not cutting your grass. It is keeping all these dead cars in your yard and tires and junk.”
Mayor Scott Fontenot, who joined the effort by walking along Park Avenue picking up litter, said, I was taught at a young age not to litter.”
He added, “I hate litter.”
Fontenot said, “It is great to see people come out in the community and actually physically get out and pick up the litter.”
In June 2016, Fontenot launched a litter abatement program that uses trusties from the Eunice City Jail to pick up up litter and other debris in the city.
“It is still dirty. It is not where I want it to be. One of my goals is to get it litter-free, which is going to be very hard. It is going to take the community to do it,” he said.
Baltakis will report on an annual litter index report at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.
Fontenot said he will report on the city’s litter abatement program at the meeting.