CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Law Enforcement Division led a new community effort last week called Operation Restore Hope.

The goal was to clean up litter and connect with people experiencing homelessness.

Mecklenburg County ABC Board Law Enforcement Division Officer Scott Minderlein came up with the idea after walking around Uptown Charlotte, noticing lots of trash and people facing housing insecurities.

One of the volunteers during the community clean up, ABC Officer Kemp England, says many people don’t realize that the ABC Board also focuses on community outreach. He says an event like this is one small way to help.

“It’s the heart behind not caring about the little things that begin to add up,” said England. “I think if the community thinks that no one cares, then sometimes it’s easy to feed into the 'no one cares' attitude and start doing little things like littering, which leads to parking in handicap violations, which leads to I don’t think that there’s anybody around that can stop me from committing a robbery. So we want to get after the little things to make sure that the community knows that we care about the little things."

Volunteers handed out 60 bags with water and snacks to people.

A physician’s assistant conducted welfare checks for around 20-30 people. Many community agencies also volunteered with the board.

Those agencies include: Mecklenburg County ABC, Davidson Police, Cornelius Police, UNC-Charlotte Police, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Anuvia, Atrium Health, Bank of America volunteers, Central Piedmont Community College, Bogues Group, Rowan Cabarrus Community College, City Waste Mgmt. and Charlotte Center City Partners.