Mayor Tim Davlin presented awards to seven Adopt-a-Street groups for their litter pick-up efforts at a volunteer appreciation party on Monday night. In 2007, more than 1,000 volunteers participated in the street-cleaning program, collecting over 1,100 bags of trash from Springfield city streets.

           For the second year in a row, top honors were given to AIG American General Life Insurance Company.  AIG collected 358 bags of trash over a 48-block area just south of downtown on Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Streets. Their volunteers logged in 287 work hours picking up their assigned street.  

“It is a great feeling to be able to recognize these groups for their litter pick-up work,” said Mayor Davlin. “We really appreciate the Adopt a Street volunteers and the organizations they represent for being so civic-minded and helping us tackle the dirty job of picking up trash.”

Other Adopt-a-Street honorees were as follows
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• Office of the Illinois Auditor General, Participation, Most Litter and Distance

• Springfield FBI, Participation and Most Litter

• Springfield Civic Garden Club, Participation and Most Litter

• Northside United Methodist Church, Most Hours

• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Participation

• Springfield Freecycle, All Star Award

These groups were among 62 total that participated in the Adopt-a-Street program in 2007. Since its launch in June 2005, the program is credited with removing more than 2,700 bags of trash from 48 miles of Springfield city streets.

            Community groups or businesses interested in adopting a street must fill out an application to participate in the program. Applications are available on the Springfield Green website, www.springfield.il.us/green or by calling 789-2116, ext. 2633. Each group is responsible for a half-mile to two-mile section of city street and agrees to remove litter a minimum of four times a year over a two-year period.  A sign acknowledging the group and the area that has been adopted is posted in recognition of their hard work. Safety vests, trash bags and free trash collection from the Office of Public Works are provided to each group to facilitate clean-up.