GENEVA, Wis. — Wisconsin has more than 11,000 miles of highway to manage and keep clean. To help rid those roads of litter, more businesses, neighborhood groups, churches and organizations are encouraged to adopt a highway in their area.
VIP Services, a nonprofit that supports adults with disabilities in Walworth County, decided to get involved in the county’s own Adopt-A-Highway offering. It was assigned a stretch of Highway H, now offering a regular volunteer activity for participants.
“We try to come out at least once a week or every other week,” said Megan Wischer with VIP Services. “We have a pretty big stretch here. Just for them to be able to give back to the community. We are definitely trying to get them in the community more and get society more used to being around adults with disabilities.”
Bob Boardman and Kim Luedtke — who are enrolled in the day program for adults with disabilities at VIP Services — said they are happy for the chance to help improve their community.
“I like picking up the garbage,” said Boardman.
Any business or group that signs up for Adopt-A-Highway in Walworth County gets assigned a two-mile or less stretch of a county highway to keep clean. That includes litter pickups at least three times a year between April 1 and Nov. 1.
Walworth County Highway Department Operations Assistant Amy Limones said that only 36 of the 99 available sections of highway in Walworth County are currently adopted.
“It’s for our community, to keep our community clean,” said Limones. “There is garbage on the side of the road on nearly every roadway across the state. We also have a lot of tourists in our county, so it’s nice to have as many groups out cleaning up the state and county roads.”
If you’re looking for a volunteer opportunity, there are counties all over Wisconsin with their own Adopt-A-Highway program. Click here to find out which counties have them.
