Several Jacksonville service groups are joining together next year on a community service project.

Members of Jacksonville’s Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Pilot and Ambucs clubs, as well as their youth service groups, have agreed to participate in a #trashtag project, though details of when and where have yet to be decided.

The #trashtag project will involve members of each club helping to clean up areas of Jacksonville that often see a lot of trash buildup, Rotary Club President Brittany Henry said.

“It’s a small service project, but it’ll be a large impact because of the number of people we’ll have,” she said. “We’ll be able to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time because of the number of members in each of our clubs.”

Henry said she and Kiwanis President Andy Smith wanted to establish a joint project, something they could accomplish during their time in office.

“We’ve never had a large joint project before,” Henry said. ” I’m so excited by the opportunity to do this.”

The clubs will form a joint committee to discuss the best times, places and options for the project, Smith said.

“It was mentioned that we get together and do something, some type of joint service in the community,” Smith said. “There is power in numbers. It’s an opportunity for us all to get together, too.”

By establishing a joint project, the organizations can form a stronger bond, Henry said.

“We are all in service (clubs) because we want to serve our communities,” she said.

The clubs have an annual joint meeting during which they get together to socialize but decided to take it a step further this year, Smith said.

“Each organization comes up with its own project and many become a tradition,” Smith said. “(Working together) is something we wanted to explore.”

The clubs will be looking to perform the project in late spring or early summer, Henry said.

Originally from the Jacksonville Journal Courier – November 27, 2019