A popular way of encouraging donations for a popular cause is through adoption. However, this is not the type of adoption that most people are familiar with.
In these cases, adopting means sending either a one-time, monthly, or annual sum of money to an organization to help pay for clean-ups and restoration. These donations also help companies put on large volunteering events, in which volunteers come together to pick up trash and keep their communities clean.
Among the most common of these are the Adopt-a-Highway, Adopt-a-Beach, and Adopt-a-Park organizations.
The Adopt-a-Highway organization originated in Texas in 1985. Since then, it has grown to be nationwide. It allows people to adopt stretches of state-maintained highways to conduct litter pick ups. The Caltrans Adopt-a-Highway program, found on dot.ca.gov, allows individuals to adopt lengths of road within the highway system and participate as volunteers or hire maintenance service workers to keep that area clean.
Adopt-a-Beach also started in Texas and allows for people to adopt stretches of beaches and donate. Through donations, the program aims to raise awareness and conduct litter pickups across the beaches. It also works with many other organizations that spread awareness on the importance of keeping beaches clean. In Los Angeles County, the program is coordinated by Heal the Bay and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
The Adopt-a-Park foundation encourages the adoption of community parks. Those that do serve as representatives for their parks create a community volunteer group committed to keeping the park clean, improving their park, and encouraging innovation to the park systems.
Glendora offers an Adopt-a-Park program on www.cityofglendora.org, which allows individuals to take part in the beautification and maintenance of the cities’ parks.
Programs such as these are created to encourage community-wide awareness and volunteering dedicated to cleaning up the world.
