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Corner by corner, volunteers are keeping Covington beautiful through the city’s Adopt-A-Spot program


With black “pins” arrayed like a general’s strategic deployment of resources, the Adopt-A-Spot map showcases one of The Cov’s biggest assets – a veritable army of volunteers working in neighborhoods across the city to beautify their surroundings.

As the program name implies, the map identifies “spots” – ranging from a block to a median to the smallest of corners – where volunteers routinely pick up litter, weed, plant flowers, and do a host of tasks.

On Wednesday, for the first time since the COVID-10 pandemic started in 2020, a party will be held to both recognize current Adopt-A-Spot efforts and to recruit new volunteers.

Before and after photos of an adopted spot on Crescent Avenue, submitted by volunteer Nick Workman, who is leading the effort there.

“The Adopt-A-Spot program epitomizes community involvement,” said Jameela Salaah, Youth and Family Director at The Center for Great Neighborhoods. “With a little commitment and energy, Covington is being beautified by the people who live here, and it’s a wonderful thing to see.”

The party is open to the public and will feature light bites, family-friendly activities, a raffle of locally donated items, and tips to help volunteers make the most of their spots.

The event is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Mac’s Pizza Pub, located at 604 Main St. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP via the event’s online form.

Flexibility is built into the Adopt-A-Spot program and is a key feature of it, said Sheila Fields, Solid Waste & Recycling Manager for the City of Covington, which collaborates with the Center and Keep Covington Beautiful on the program.

“Volunteers identify what ‘spot’ they want to adopt and decide what work they want to do there, how often they want to work, and when,” Fields said. “That’s what makes participation so easy.”

• “Spots” can be adopted, for example, by an organization, a neighborhood, a business, a group of students or a family.

• The spots themselves can be a street, parking lot, park, trail, community gateway, storm drain, a block, or even a planter or two. “If you come up with an idea, we can help make it happen,” Fields said.

• Work typically can include a range of activities, such as picking up litter, sweeping up cigarette butts, pulling up weeds, removing illegally posted signs from utility poles or traffic islands, keeping drains free of debris, planting flowers and trees, spreading mulch, and other landscaping.

Organizers can provide a variety of tools for volunteers, including litter grabbers, gloves, pruners, litter bags, buckets, hand trowels, weed forks and safety vests.

More than 200 spots have been registered over the years, although some see more activity than others.

To learn more information about the program or to register, see Keep Covington Beautiful’s program webpage at Adopt-A-Spot. Once you register, you’ll receive an e-mail with follow-up information. Those interested can also skip straight to individual features at:

• Adopt-A-Spot map.
• To enroll a new spot, see new Adoption.
• To report progress or give a status update on a current spot, see Adopt-A-Spot activity. (Note that each update gives you an entry into a quarterly raffle for a gift card to a local business.)

City of Covington


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