Lakis Mavinidis is encouraging Harlan Countians to take a little PRIDE in their hometown.

Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE) is a program started by Hal Rogers to fund clean-up projects in eastern Kentucky. The PRIDE Spring Cleanup will begin Saturday, kicking off two weeks of organized cleanup projects around the county.

"We encourage volunteers, whether it be churches, civic organizations or individuals, that would like to conduct a PRIDE cleanup project to schedule a time with the judge-executive's office," said Lakis Mavinidis, solid waste coordinator. "... The fiscal court will provide the necessary supplies such as garbage bags, safety vests and gloves to pick up litter and other debris."

"I would like to encourage all the groups that have formed in the past, such as the adopt-a-spot groups from Gulston to Lynch to Smith and many other places in the county, including the adopt-a-highway groups, to pitch in again. Let's all work together again to have a successful cleanup."

Mavinidis said the office has already received many calls from groups willing to participate, and he schedules the projects strategically so that the garbage transfer station can handle the loads.

Police officers will be on hand to help with safety, but Mavinidis said he wanted to remind everyone to drive extremely carefully as there will be a lot of young people on the roads.

"I look at PRIDE as a particularly important program for Harlan County because we plan to become a tourist area," said Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop. "PRIDE is a program that is designed to get every citizen involved in their community by cleaning roadways, local public areas and even their own yard to make the county cleaner and presentable for our guests."

Besides just having a cleaner county, other incentives are available through the PRIDE program, including the Pride Volunteer of the Month award, 2005 Envi Award, Tony Turner Volunteer of the Month award and the Rogers-Bickford Environmental Award.

But most importantly, Mavinidis says the reward is that future generations will have a cleaner county.

"We as adults always expect respect from the younger generation," said Mavinidis. "It's time for us to show our respect and stop littering, because they clean it up."