Salisbury –The City of Salisbury was presented with a community quilt representing the Stash Your Trash Campaign this week, as the campaign was adopted as the city’s official anti-littering campaign.
Before the City Council on Monday evening was a resolution of the City of Salisbury adopting the Stash Your Trash Campaign as the official anti-littering campaign of the city. The council voted unanimously to approve the resolution.
The 2nd Annual Stash Your Trash Cleanup took place along Eastern Shore Dr. from College Ave. to Carroll St. on April 12, and the Chesapeake Tours & Promotions has received a $250 Constellation’s Community Champions grant from Constellation Energy to support the purchase of litter bags to distribute to the public at the Salisbury Festival.
Over 150 children, ages 5-17, throughout kids clubs in the region have hand-sewn a community quilt to raise litter awareness that was displayed during the Salisbury Festival on April 26 at the west end of the Downtown Plaza for public signing to pledge to stop littering in the community.
The resolution states in part, “the City seeks to partner with the Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee, Wicomico County Recycling, Chesapeake Tours & Promotions, PAC14, Shore Transit, Wicomico Partnership for Children & Families and Salisbury University’s Environmental Studies and Marketing departments in their support of the Stash Your Trash Campaign.”
At a Feb. 18 work session, Priscilla Timken of Chesapeake Tours & Promotions explained she has received funding for the past two years from the Wicomico Partnership for Family and Children to develop heritage activities in after school programs. She reported that she was teaching sewing to children as a heritage activity and decided to combine that activity with the completion of a community project.
The project selected, entitled “Needle Pulling Thread”, addresses litter awareness and allows children to participate in producing a handmade community quilt, incorporating the slogan “Stash Your Trash.”
“Thank you for having us here tonight and present to you officially the Stash Your Trash community quilt that was designed and hand sewn by several of the girls that are here tonight representing the YMCA after-school program,” Timken said. “The girls learned how to hand sew and also to become engaged in a community issue. What strengthened the project was to involve our youth in community activity and a community issue, and we chose to address the problem of litter in the community.”
Timken was happy to announce the quilt received over 500 signatures at the Salisbury Festival from those who pledged to stash their trash.
“The other thing I want to bring attention to is when I spoke to you during the work session I came away with a really personal and touching story from Councilman [Tim] Spies, and he said ‘Love the idea but I have one request. Will you please sew a pocket on the quilt? My grandmother always taught me as a child to put any trash I had in my pocket, and when I got home that day put the trash in the trashcan.’ So we have a pocket on the quilt for you Councilman Spies and countless times have shared your story,” she said. “Thank you because it’s added to the quilt and the intent we are trying to instill in all of us to be responsible for our trash, and not to expect other people to pick it up for us.”
Council President Jake Day thanked the students for bringing forward the quilt.
“We are so proud of you for the work you have done. The quilt is beautiful, and you have done such a fantastic job,” he said. “We recognize that everybody plays a part. Everybody has to stash their trash. Everybody has to help to beautify Salisbury and take pride in this community … A lot of civic leaders recognize the importance, and I am glad to see a lot of young people also recognizing the importance of picking up after ourselves and how that act can lead to so much more pride in our community and in our neighborhoods.”