South End social rail trail clean-up meet ahead of vigil for Iryna Zarutska

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The light rail trail received a little tender love and care from Charlotte neighbors Saturday afternoon. “I keep the city beautiful,” said volunteer Nicole Cleary. 

She’s been volunteering with the South End Social Rail Trail clean-up for years. The group of volunteers put on yellow reflective vests three times a year and grab trash along the rail trail line.

“We’ve had great turnouts for this. We actually had our biggest one in the spring was 263 volunteers. We have great support from people not only in Southend but coming from all over Charlotte, really, because the rail trial is such a key part of the city,” said organizer Michael Martin. 

The rail trail clean-up has been going strong for seven years. Martin says volunteers meet three times in the fall and three times in the spring. 

“We partner with local breweries in over 40 different local businesses that provide raffle prizes for our volunteers,” he said.

Volunteers spend a few hours picking up trash along several routes.

This Saturday’s meet-up was significant because of the recent tragic stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska.

On Monday, representatives with the North Carolina GOP will hold a vigil in her honor, just one month after her death.

“I think with the recent events, like we want to promote a community feel, we want people to feel safe,” Martin said. “We want to paint the light rail and the rail trail in a good light and really bring the good out in the community, and everybody is supporting one another.”

Cleary says she hopes the clean-ups encourage neighbors to continue to keep the light rail trail as clean as possible.

“I mean, we all live in it together, so why not pick it up together and keep it beautiful. Because if something is trash, nobody goes there. So at the end of the day, you want everything to look good,” she said. 

The group will meet again on October 25 and November 22. After a winter break, they’ll return in March, April, and May.