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Citizens needed to help
clean up southern Illinois

By Glenn Poshard

Two years ago, a comprehensive community audit of Franklin, Perry, Jackson, Jefferson, and Williamson counties was commissioned to identify future economic opportunities for southern Illinois. Man-Tra-Con Corporation, on behalf of the Southern Illinois Workforce Investment Board and the Chief Local Elected Officials of the five counties involved, contracted a nationally recognized team of experts to conduct the audit. A subsequent 150-page report was issued titled, A 21 st Century Workforce for Southern Illinois.

In short, the audit revealed four major areas of development that will be crucial to the future of southern Illinois, particularly the five-county region. The areas are business, economic, educational and health care services development. Many projects peculiar to each of these areas were identified, but the one overriding key to success identified in all four areas of development was citizen involvement; thus the need for this appeal.

At the January 21, 2005 meeting at Rend Lake College during the presentation of the community audit findings, I agreed to lead the effort, in cooperation with Man-Tra-Con and the Southern Illinoisian, to accomplish perhaps the most pressing need of our area, a Clean Up Southern Illinois Campaign.

This campaign will contribute to the successful development of all four identified areas in several ways. First, prospective business and industry are attracted to an area that takes pride in its cleanliness and natural beauty. They are equally repelled by trash and pollution. Secondly, the great natural beauty of southern Illinois may be our finest asset for attracting and holding people who want to live and work here, many of whom are leaving the area for other opportunities. A trashy appearance destroys the quality of life we all want to enjoy. And finally, the message conveyed to our children that we don't care about cleanliness, order and preserving our natural environment is the most damaging of all lessons. How will the next generation take on the challenges of protecting and preserving the beauty of our land, water and air for their children, if the message today from mom and dad is one of not caring? If the problem is allowed to be carried from one generation to the next, the cycle may never be broken.

Now is the time to break it. On Saturday, March 5, 2005, an organizational meeting was held at the Herrin Civic Center to begin our campaign. Each county board was encouraged to send a team of no less than five people willing to help lead this effort. Each county will be organized into three groups — highways, municipalities, and schools. We will learn how to recruit civic groups, churches and other organizations to help keep our highways clean. We'll learn how to encourage and assist municipal governments to be more effective in cleaning up neighborhoods. And, most importantly, we'll help our schools develop a new interest in encouraging our children to respect their natural environment.

We need many, many citizens to participate and to help lead this effort. Every county is welcome. Every citizen is welcome. Every business or industry that may be contributing to this problem and wants to help resolve it is welcome.

The meeting on Saturday was only the first step in a long process to help ourselves to a better life. Until we take ownership of the problem, nothing will happen. We ask for your kind consideration and your help in this important endeavor.

Glenn Poshard heads up the Clean Up Southern Illinois Campaign with the help of Kathy Lively, executive director of Man-Tra-Con, and Dennis DeRosset, publisher of The Southern Illinoisan. This article was originally published in The Southern Illinoisan on February 22, 2005.