Page 4 • Wednesday , March 9 , 2022 • The Hammonton Gazette town-wide cleanup draws many volunteers
THG / Sean Friel .
Volunteers at the cleanup . CLeaNUP , from Page 1
COViD-19 made it hard for the coalition of organizations to orchestrate the cleanup event , but the organizations did some small work here and there , Bachalis said . The coalition of groups is happy to be back to some normality and expected a crowd just as big as they had seen years prior before the pandemic , Bachalis said . This year , the organizations tried something different , not only focusing on Hammonton Lake Park but making the event town-wide . The H a m m o n t o n e d u c a t i o n Association and Canoe Club volunteers aided in the event , according to Bachalis .
“ Usually what we ’ ve done is just concentrate on Hammonton Lake Park … this year we decided to branch out … i ’ m sure the postevent analysis will be interesting … before we had a shutdown because of COViD , we had 150 people … we ’ re expecting pretty much at least that many ,” Bachalis said .
According to the organizations , people could have requested for certain areas of the town to be cleaned up , which prompted the coalition to make a map . The map covered downtown and had around seven to eight different cleanup locations . These locations were somewhat near one another , with some requiring more transportation than other spots .
“ We ’ ll probably send them down egg Harbor road in that direction to clean that up , into the downtown , train station , and if we can figure out transportation , we ’ ll shoot them to some of these other spots ,” Bachalis said .
With transportation being a factor , many volunteers decided to stick to the surrounding area of
Hammonton Lake Park . A long line of volunteers could be seen walking around the park picking up trash and litter , all in support of their community . Many of the trails were also covered with volunteers , making the lake park the most populated area of all the different locations . A cluster of high school students was in attendance at the event , students like National Honor Society members , according to Bachalis . The students came to help and take part in the event .
The cleanup event had a strong turnout , with organizers thanking the volunteers for their time , and their dedication to the community of Hammonton .