BELLAIRE — Village residents are invited to participate in a two-day trash cleanup to improve their neighborhoods.

The Bellaire Citizens Action Group with help from resident Andrea Nutter is organizing the cleanup, set for May 15-16. Volunteers will meet at the Village Park gazebo at 9 a.m. each day and then spread out to pick up loose trash along streets, sidewalks and alleys across the village.

Nutter said trash bags and latex gloves will be provided; however, people may want to wear heavier gloves or bring their own picker poles for the effort.

People are also asked to bring their own water and snacks to eat. However, Nutter said any businesses that would like to donate snacks or items needed for the cleanup can call her at 740-827-6592.

“We’re just tired of looking at it. People throw stuff out of their cars. Loose stuff comes out of cans and high winds find it and blow it around,” she said.

Nutter said volunteers with pickup trucks or other vehicles who are willing to help haul the bags back to City Park also are needed. The bags will be collected from that site later by the village sanitation department, she said.

As an incentive to participate, the first five people who sign up each day will receive a coupon for the Ohio Valley Farmers’ Market that takes place in Bellaire each Saturday.

She noted there is no real time limit on the cleanup.

“We’re doing it until we decide we’re done. It could be early afternoon or later in the afternoon. It depends on the progress,” she said.

Volunteers can be any age, but those who are in the sixth grade or younger need to be accompanied by a parent, she said.

“Take some pride in the community. Everyone says how bad it looks; let’s get out there and clean it up,” she said.

Nutter said she has lived in Bellaire for about nine years. Previously she lived in Flint, Michigan. While living in Flint she participated in community cleanup efforts there, too. One activity done years ago there involved unused paint. She said people would donate leftover paint that was remixed into different colors to repaint people’s homes.

She said the group repainted the exteriors of homes of the elderly and low-income individuals for free. Nutter said the program was successful and something she believes could help improve Bellaire as well.

She is not sure, though, if there is anyone local who could properly remix the needed paint.

“I was so proud of Flint when we did that,” she said. “We would paint the entire exterior and plant shrubbery and flowers that were donated.”