For five years, Thompson said he has picked up trash while on his walks or jogs. Now, he said he has the desire to see a movement in Conroe in which the community becomes passionate about keeping Conroe’s streets clean.
“I feel really strongly about it, and hopefully we can get others involved,” Thompson said.
Thompson said he hopes to soft launch a civic program dubbed the Conroe Shine Time. Within this program, he said he is looking for a core group of volunteers to go on walks in residential neighborhoods and pick up trash they see on the street. Thompson said as soon as enough interest is communicated he hopes to launch the program. Once the program picks up, he hopes to create T-shirts and have sponsored events.
“There’s a lot of things we could do,” Thompson said. “Education in the schools, prevention signage, ... we could coordinate with [the] school district and try to promote them by doing the antilittering program in the schools.”
The initiative has also gained support from Conroe Mayor Jody Czajkoski.
Czajkoski said he also knew the Wilkersons and saw Thompson continuing their efforts; Czajkoski and Thompson are neighbors, and Czajkoski said he wanted to help the initiative turn into a branded program.
“I really think if out of 100 people that walked in the morning in Conroe, if they knew what we were doing, they would love to help us out,” Czajkoski said. “They just need to know about it, and we need to encourage them.”
If interested in the Conroe Shine Time, participants can contact Bill Thompson at [email protected] or 936-520-1663.
