City of Jacksonville

Mayor Donna Deegan has announced the latest winners of the Jax Litter League, a 98-day friendly competition that mobilized hundreds of volunteers to remove trash and litter from roadsides, parks, and public spaces across Jacksonville.

Taking first place is Collect & Connect, captained by Ruth Peeples. The team collected 268 bags of litter, equaling 9,380 pounds, or 4.69 tons of debris. Collect & Connect donated 259 volunteer hours, representing a volunteer value of $9,010.61 in cost avoidance to Jacksonville taxpayers.

Second place goes to Kindly Clean, captained by Josh Beran, whose members collected 52 bags of litter, equaling 1,820 pounds, or 0.91 tons of debris. They contributed 43 volunteer hours, a volunteer value of $1,495.97. (Volunteer time value is calculated using Independent Sector’s value of volunteer time metric.)

In all, Jax Litter League volunteers donated more than 500 hours of their time this season, collecting trash and litter. The cumulative value of their volunteer hours amounted to more than $18,000, a direct cost avoidance to taxpayers for litter removal from Jacksonville’s landscape.

“Every bag these volunteers filled is a cleaner street, a healthier waterway, and a source of pride for our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Donna Deegan. “Collect & Connect and Kindly Clean set the pace this season, but every single participant made Jacksonville a better place to live. This is what it looks like when a city takes care of itself, working together.”

Celebration at VyStar Ballpark

The winning team was honored Tuesday, July 7, as the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp took on the Durham Bulls at VyStar Ballpark. Jax Litter League participant William “Tommy” Miller, who uses a wheelchair, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, joined on the field by the members of Collect & Connect. As this season’s champions, Collect & Connect watched the game from a suite, and team captains from across the league have been invited to attend with seats in Section 115.

The Jax Litter League is part of Mayor Deegan’s citywide effort to keep Jacksonville clean and beautiful, encouraging residents to form teams and compete to collect the most bags of litter each season.

Season highlights:

• 98 days of competition
• Hundreds of volunteers across participating teams
• More than 500 volunteer hours donated
• More than $18,000 in volunteer value — a cost avoidance to Jacksonville taxpayers

Details about the next round of the competition, which will take place in the fall, will be shared in the coming weeks.

About the Jax Litter League: This citywide cleanup challenge pits neighborhood teams against one another in a race to pick up litter, rack up points, and earn bragging rights — all while making our streets cleaner and our communities stronger. To learn more, visit Jacksonville.gov - Jax Litter League.