A community cleanup day will take place this Sunday throughout Rumford and Mexico.

A community cleanup day will take place throughout Rumford and Mexico this Sunday.

With the theme, “Let’s Clean Up Together,” volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. at the Rumford Information Center. People are asked wear bright colors or safety vests. Some supplies will be provided or you can bring your own.

The rain-or-shine event runs until late morning, concluding with a light barbecue put on for the volunteers by the Rumford Fire Department at the Rumford Information Center.

A flyer for the cleanup says, “Join your neighbors and friends in the River Valley as we work together, block by block, to keep your neighborhood clean by picking up litter from our roadsides.”

Volunteer Tom Bourret said the cleanup will include Route 2 from beyond McDonald’s in Rumford to the Walmart in Mexico, where the litter is most visible.

For families working on the cleanup, there will be low-traffic areas such as streets and parks.

Volunteer Lisa Arsenault, a member of Fire and Iron Athletics in Mexico, said, “This whole thing came about because Angie Howitt trains with us and mentioned how bad Route 2 is. Many of our clients are walkers and runners, so we knew we’d pitch in. I went to talk with the town of Rumford about picking up the bags of trash and Tom (Bourret) said they wanted to pick up trash, too.”

Arsenault said she does a challenge calendar at Fire and Iron Athletics. It’s filled with various exercises, community service and giving back.

“I often put picking up trash on it, just to get people to think and act in our community,” she said.

Bourret noted that no one group is in charge of this event. It’s many local people who had the same idea about taking pride in their community by cleaning up the litter from roadsides.

Volunteers include employees of the town of Rumford, the Rumford Fire Department and Hannaford.

Last week, the Mexico Board of Selectmen approved letting the local ATV club travel along streets to help with the cleanup.

In Rumford, Bourret said, Public Works will pick up the trash bags from the cleanup in Rumford on Monday morning.

For more information on the cleanup, check Facebook (River Valley Community Clean Up), or contact Tom Bourret (357-8881) or Angela Howitt (418-8377).