Published: October 22, 2009 10:15 am      

Pride is in the running

The numbers are impressive: 432,107 pounds of trash, 12,000 hours of work, 6,800 volunteers, 1,510 trees and flowers. J.T. Collier takes pride in those numbers.

As president of Pride In McAlester, Collier knows the numbers are one reason his group is a finalist for three separate state awards next month. The group has been chosen by Keep Oklahoma Beautiful as a finalist in Community Effort, Best First Effort and Best Trash-Off, competing with other cities for each top recognition in each category.

But the people behind the numbers are a bigger part of the honor.

“It has taken a lot of people to give up their spare time and energy and money to go out and do their part to make our community a better place to live,” Collier said this morning.

He referred to the 6,800 volunteers who worked with PIM over the past year, during the group’s first spring cleaning event. They donated 12,000 hours to the cause, collecting 432,107 pounds of trash, debris and recyclables.

Recently, Collier was notified by KOB that Pride was one of three finalists for KOB’s annual Community Effort award for cities with a population of 20,000 to 50,000. (Also named as finalists were Ardmore and Shawnee.) Then came the news that Pride is also a finalist for two other KOB awards: Best First Effort and Best Trash-Off.

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful is a nonprofit organization that helps and recognizes efforts to beautify the state and improve its environmental and sustainable quality of life. Its Environmental Excellence Competition recognizes the work of Oklahomans for exceptional environmental improvement efforts completed during the 12-month period ending June 30 each year.

This year’s awards ceremony is set Nov. 17 in Oklahoma City.

“This award is not only a Keep Oklahoma Beautiful award,” Collier said. “It is part of the entire Keep Amercia Beautiful program. So it’s a predecessor to national recognition, and statewide recognition for the citizens of McAlester and the volunteers of Pride In McAlester who have made the sacrifices it takes to clean up our community.”

The effort has been phenomenal, and has become an annual event that takes place in the spring and the fall. PIM collects recyclables, and helps residents rid themselves of everything from ice storm debris to decrepit iceboxes sitting in the backyard. The group has also organized campaigns for litter collection, and is working to help bring a recyler to McAlester.

Collier’s not shy. He hopes the group is recognized with all three awards.

“I think it will be a feather in the cap of McAlester, and will go a long way to help us rid ourselves of the negativity that Southeast Oklahoma has got throughout the state,” he said. “There’s not many places you can go in Oklahoma and tell people you’re from McAlester that you don’t get some kind of negative feedback. And I think it’s time we rid ourselves of the shackles of that kind of negative thinking, and I think if we can be successful in winning these awards, that will help.”

Contact Kandra Wells at kwells@mcalesternews.com.