2025 cleanup champions recognized at Thursday luncheon

ALBANY – The public service group Men on a Mission is known for providing meals and bicycles to some of the city’s disadvantaged residents during Christmas each year. This week it became known for helping clean up the community with the group’s selection as volunteers of the year during a luncheon hosted by Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful.

KADB’s 35th volunteer celebration luncheon honored individuals and groups that did their part to pitch in on cleaning up litter during 2025.

The program also highlighted the accomplishments for the previous year, including a Stash-the-Trash day in which 2,456 volunteers on 102 teams picked up more than three tons of debris from 112 miles of roadway. In all, KADB, which spearheads cleanup and anti-littering educational efforts, presented 12 awards that were handed out by Albany Mayor Bo Dorough and Dougherty County Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard.

“I think it’s an honor for Men on a Mission to receive this award,” Kelvin Crawford, the group’s activities director, told an Albany Herald reporter after accepting the award with members Eric Green and Michael Williams. “We are seeking to make Albany a nice place to live and to make Albany the Good Life City.”

Members go out on trash pickup events at least three times a month, and the group, which mentors boys through a program with the Albany Recreation and Parks Department, also encourages youngsters not to litter.

During 2025, the KADB board was revamped, reducing the number of members from 26 to 14. The reconfiguration of that board allowed for the Albany City Commission and Dougherty County Commission to each appoint seven members, with City Commissioner Jon Howard elected as the new chair for the group.

“I’m hoping we’ll continue the strong tradition of the board, continue the tradition of keeping Dougherty clean,” Heard said during an interview following the program, answering questions about what he wants to see from the revitalized KADB board. “I am also hoping we will find new and innovative ways to improve on people caring about our community and that we create some new programs that will get all generations involved.”

During his remarks to the audience, Dorough said that like the old saying goes, a community only has one chance to make a first impression on visitors in terms of the cleanliness of its environment.

Heard agreed, saying that when newcomers arrive to see litter and blight it “absolutely” has an effect on them.

“Everybody likes a clean place,” Heard said. “Certainly it hurts us. So all of us have got to be mindful about keeping where we live, where we work, where we play, clean.”

The board has had one meeting so far in 2025, Howard said, and plans to have “pop-up meetings” with staff to observe their efforts. 

“I always harp on education,” he said. “If you don’t educate, things are going to stay the same.”

In addition to Men on a Mission, awards were presented to:

• Clean business: Brad Lanier Oil Co,. doing business as Homerun Foods
• Beautification: Albany Garden Club, Magnolia District
• Community improvement: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
• Organization: Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity
• Governments: City of Albany and Dougherty County
• Albany Public Works Department Employee of the Year: Laura Daniels
• Dougherty County Public Works Manager of the Year: David Little
• Public Works Employee of the Year: Deborah Patton
• Solid Waste Department Employee of the Year: Cynthia Gibson
• Solid Waste Department Employee of the Year: Latresa Harvey.