St. Mary of Sorrows Knights of Columbus Council 8600
Adopt-A-Highway - Route 123 Cleanup
Program Overview
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Adopt-A-Highway (AAH) program, which began in 1988, is one of the largest such programs in the country.. Each year, nearly 18,000 AAH volunteers collect more than 25,600 bags of waste along Virginia’s highways. VDOT encourages AAH participants to schedule and conduct at least two yearly pickups, one during April to coincide with “Earth Day” or in the fall to coincide with the autumn "Day to Serve”.
Council 8600 has supported AAH activities since 1989, making this program one of our longest continuous community outreach engagements. The AAH program provides our Council a great opportunity to support worthwhile community programs designed to improve the environment. The Council schedules and performs this service on Route 123/Ox Road near the historic Saint Mary of Sorrows church once per quarter.
AAH typically includes some 5 to 10 Council members and family members, especially teens needing volunteer hours. Projects usually take 2-3 hours to complete and, with up-front planning, involve between 45 and 50 hours of volunteer effort annually.
Each event must have at least one adult supervisor for every six children under age 18 years. Children under age 10 may participate in pickups only if VDOT's resident engineer has given the Council a special permit.
The Council’s AAH program, which falls under the auspices of the Community Outreach coordinator and is led by a principal AAH point of contact (POC), involves a detailed planning/needs assessment phase and a project execution and reporting phase.
Planning/Needs Assessment Phase
The AAH POC:
Project Execution and Reporting Phase
On AAH project day, all individuals participating in the program meet at the Council Hall located at the Historic Church on Route 123 at 8 o’clock in the morning. The AAH POC and/or Community Outreach Chair welcome attendees, issues instructions and provides a safety briefing stressing the need for safe operations and avoiding injury or damage.
Instructions for all AAH volunteers:
Following completion, the AAH POC will notify the VDOT Coordinator that material is ready for pickup.
The AAH POC will also complete and submit the online project report to VDOT (http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/programs/prog-aah-report.asp).
Adopt-A-Highway - Route 123 Cleanup
Program Overview
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Adopt-A-Highway (AAH) program, which began in 1988, is one of the largest such programs in the country.. Each year, nearly 18,000 AAH volunteers collect more than 25,600 bags of waste along Virginia’s highways. VDOT encourages AAH participants to schedule and conduct at least two yearly pickups, one during April to coincide with “Earth Day” or in the fall to coincide with the autumn "Day to Serve”.
Council 8600 has supported AAH activities since 1989, making this program one of our longest continuous community outreach engagements. The AAH program provides our Council a great opportunity to support worthwhile community programs designed to improve the environment. The Council schedules and performs this service on Route 123/Ox Road near the historic Saint Mary of Sorrows church once per quarter.
AAH typically includes some 5 to 10 Council members and family members, especially teens needing volunteer hours. Projects usually take 2-3 hours to complete and, with up-front planning, involve between 45 and 50 hours of volunteer effort annually.
Each event must have at least one adult supervisor for every six children under age 18 years. Children under age 10 may participate in pickups only if VDOT's resident engineer has given the Council a special permit.
The Council’s AAH program, which falls under the auspices of the Community Outreach coordinator and is led by a principal AAH point of contact (POC), involves a detailed planning/needs assessment phase and a project execution and reporting phase.
Planning/Needs Assessment Phase
The AAH POC:
- o Establishes and maintains coordination with the Fairfax County/VDOT coordinator on all planning, conducting, and reporting actions
- o Coordinates with the Council leadership to schedule and publicize dates for AAH support.
- o Solicits volunteers via Signup Genius on the Council website and tracks status.
- o Submits program reminders to the Grand Knight for publication in his weekly Council e-mail submissions
- o Maintains inventory of AAH gear, including orange safety vests, trash bags, and temporary signs.
- o Maintains and erects temporary “Cleaning Crew Working” signs prior to each event and then removes same following project completion.
Project Execution and Reporting Phase
On AAH project day, all individuals participating in the program meet at the Council Hall located at the Historic Church on Route 123 at 8 o’clock in the morning. The AAH POC and/or Community Outreach Chair welcome attendees, issues instructions and provides a safety briefing stressing the need for safe operations and avoiding injury or damage.
Instructions for all AAH volunteers:
- o Please wear the issued orange safety vest so drivers can see you easily. Put on the vest before you leave the car so you are visible the moment you are on the side of the road.
- o Wear brightly colored clothing that protects your arms and legs and wear hard-soled shoes and work or gardening gloves.
- o Exercise care when removing temporary signs in case there are sharp edges. In case of removing signs attached to poles within the right of way, volunteers should wear safety glasses and use an appropriate tool to perform the task safely.
- o Always walk facing traffic and stay with the team.
- o Concentrate on picking up litter in areas other than the roadway or close to the edge of the road.
- o Only pick up litter on median strips if the Council has received permission from VDOT's resident engineer to do so.
- o You are not expected to pick up litter in construction or maintenance sites, on bridges or overpasses. Leave that for VDOT.
- o Only focus on removing litter within adopted section and stay within the area marked by your safety signs.
- o Keep an eye out for and avoid snakes and poisonous weeds.
- o Do not pick up materials that appear to be hazardous. The Council POC will contact the state police and/or VDOT for any hazardous waste.
Following completion, the AAH POC will notify the VDOT Coordinator that material is ready for pickup.
The AAH POC will also complete and submit the online project report to VDOT (http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/programs/prog-aah-report.asp).