The Great American Clean Up
The Great American Cleanup is the nation’s largest community improvement effort, rallying together 4 million volunteers to improve 20,000 communities. Keep Mississippi Beautiful and its network of affiliates participate each year in this Keep America Beautiful effort, working with local communities to make improvements in their neighborhoods.
Keep reading for more information on how to participate or start your own community clean-up.
Previous Great American Clean Ups
On a spring morning in April 2026, more than 200 volunteers came together at Saab Park for the 2026 Keep Canton Beautiful cleanup, part of Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup. City leaders, local organizations, and neighbors planted trees and flowers, picked up litter, and gave the park a well-earned refresh.
Keep the Rez Beautiful hosted a highly successful 2024 State Kickoff, enhancing the campground, park, playground and their botanical garden along the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
In 2023, the State Kickoff took place in McNeill park with Keep Pearl River County Beautiful, where volunteers built garden beds, a bridge, installed picnic tables and a new flagpole, and revitalized a pavillion.
Keep Belzoni Beautiful led the 2022 Kickoff, implementing Phase II of its community garden with support from affiliates, local government, and businesses.
Keep Mississippi Beautiful held two kickoffs in 2021:
— One with Keep Jackson Beautiful, where 103 volunteers planted 8 trees and over 200 flower bulbs at Jackson City Hall
— And a postponed 2020 event with Keep Corinth-Alcorn County Beautiful, where 77 trees were replanted after storm damage and volunteers collected over 1,100 pounds of litter.
Community Clean-Ups
Big change starts with one picked-up piece of trash.
Community clean-ups are where Mississippi pride becomes action. Neighbors, students, businesses, and city leaders show up together, and in a few hours a littered lot, park, or roadside becomes a place people are proud to share.
Across the state, Mississippians are rolling up their sleeves. This year in Canton, more than 200 volunteers gave Saab Park a fresh start during the Great American Cleanup, planting trees and flowers and filling bags with litter. You don’t need experience or a big crew. You just need a willingness to show up.