Don’t Mess with Paris, Texas. a huge success with over 268 volunteers

On Apr. 13, over 268 volunteers showed their community spirit by joining together to clean up our town.

The Love Civic Center Sports Pavilion was command central, where everyone gathered to enjoy breakfast provided by Credit Union of Texas, and then gather grabbers, safety vests, gloves and bags.

The weather was perfect, and the vibe among the 30+ teams was almost like an outdoor festival.

The enthusiastic volunteer teams represented local churches, businesses, schools, clubs, social organizations, non-profits, families, foundations, and solo volunteers we called Fantastic Freelancers.

Mayor Reginald B. Hughes stepped to the mic to start the program. He welcomed all the volunteers, and conducted a short safety briefing. Keep Paris Beautiful Executive Director Julia Trigg Crawford then provided some final instructions on the day’s schedule, and after the group photo, the teams were dispatched to their assigned areas.

By about 12:30 pm the teams had completed their assigned areas and all the trash had been loaded in CARD’s trash trucks, and City of Paris trailers, and hauled away. The final tabulations show 318 bags of trash collected, plus furniture, and over 20 tires. There was also an array of interesting items collected like a metal Dallas Morning News newspaper stand, a bb gun, and even a family of orphaned baby opposums. The opposums were transferred to a licensed wildlife rescue organization in Red River County.

The group “Supreme Team” won with 73 bags of trash collected, and Impact Church brought the largest team with 35 volunteers.

“Once again, local volunteers showed up and left no doubt how much they care about our community”, said Julia Trigg Crawford. “Keep Paris Beautiful is proud to partner with the City of Paris, and all the other great sponsors on this event. A cleaner community is a benefit to the people who live there, and it also allows us to attract additional visitors and businesses. Thank you to everyone to made Trashoff 2024 such a success. We’ll see you in 2025 when we set even new records.”

For more information, please contact Keep Paris Beautiful Executive Director Julia Trigg Crawford at keepparisbeautiful@gmail.com or 713.443.8789.

See teams and sponsors below: