KCCB unveils first Adopt a Spot signs

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

Four dedicated groups made a commitment to cleaning and caring for four different locations in Copperas Cove.

Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful (KCCB) in partnership with the Copperas Cove Street Department held four Adopt a Road, Park, Spot sign unveilings Wednesday. 

Unveilings were done for Unity Baptist Church, Cub Scout Pack #251 for the Copperas Cove Municipal Cemetery, SC Lee Junior Honor Society for Courtney Lane, and the Holy Family Catholic Church.

“It’s just a great way to show off that these four groups have decided to make a difference in their community,” said KCCB Director Roxanne Flores. “We’re excited. We’re hoping that other groups, individuals, families will see this and want to adopt a road, park, or spot.”

The Adopt a Road, Park, Spot program was started in 2020, but did not do well because of Covid. 

The program was invigorated by Nathan Garner, age 10. He started the program when he was with the Five Hills Scholarship Pageant with KCCB as his platform. 

During his reign, Garner applied for and received two $500 grants to help revitalize the program, one from Youth Serve America and one from Fort Hood Thrift Shop.

“If you don’t protect the planet, then all that humans will be doing is harm, and that’s a bad thing,” said Garner.

Garner said that he remembers attending his first clean-up event and how fun it was and hopes that others will enjoy doing their part as well.

“It feels good to know that people are willing to do their part,” said Garner about how there were four groups already participating in the Adopt a Road, Park, Spot program.

Garner’s own Cub Scout Pack #251 adopted the Copperas Cove Municipal Cemetery. James Lewis, Assistant Cub Master, and Windie Lewis, Assistant Arrows Leader and Assistant Community Chair, attended the event as representatives of the scouts. The group is chartered by the VFW and already takes care of the cemetery and puts flags on the graves of veterans, but they wanted to take the extra step to clean up the cemetery at least four times a year. The two admitted that it was all Garner’s idea and that they are all super proud of him and want to do their part as well to take care of the cemetery.

“It’s showing respect to our loved ones that we have lost,” said James Lewis.

The Holy Family Catholic Church has already been working on cleaning up their area since 2020, but they were happy to make it official on Wednesday.

The National Junior Honor Society will be working on taking care of Courtney Lane.

Unity Baptist Church will be cleaning up the road near their church.

LaShara Zeno-Strowder and Ayana McClain signed the contract for the Unity Baptist Church and hope to get their youth department involved in the clean-up efforts as well as make their church more visible to the community.

“We’re very excited,” said Zeno-Strowder. “We wanted to be visible and active in our community. One of our mottoes is ‘Each one reach one’ by telling the truth on Jesus.”

“We want to make sure that the youth are getting involved, not just the adults,” said McClain. “This gives them a responsibility and a sense of ownership to the community by keeping our space clean.”

For others interested in adopting an area, KCCB is happy to encourage other groups and individuals to adopt a road, park, or spot. Adopting an area is a two-year commitment of a minimum of four cleanings per year. 

KCCB provides all of the cleaning materials and volunteers must report the number of volunteers at the clean-up and how many bags of trash were collected. The city will pick up the trash after the clean-up. KCCB also provides the sign identifying their chosen location.