As part of the 2024 Great American Cleanup, Newport News Shipbuilding employees, students from Christopher Newport University and Hampton University, and other community members joined forces to clean up streets around the shipyard on Saturday, March 30.

About 85 volunteers gathered in a parking lot on 47th Street as part of the Serve the City-led project to clean the neighborhoods in which they live and work. In just two hours, volunteers filled 81 bags of trash.

Community members were appreciative of the volunteers’ efforts. “There were at least five or six people who thanked us for our work, and we were able to have a very positive interaction with them,” said Lanica Williams-Tallon, one of the project leads.

Volunteers also handed out a “blessing bag” full of essential goodies to someone they met who was also very grateful.

This was the third time NNS has partnered with Serve the City to clean up surrounding neighborhoods, and the number of participants and amount of trash collected has grown each time.

“The shipyard is committed to building these relationships with the community and keeping the neighborhoods clean, and Serve the City is willing to help in this endeavor however they can. We hope to see you out at the next one,” said Cathy Zimeras, NNS’ Serve the City lead.

For any questions about Serve the City, visit the Serve the City website on MyNNS or contact Cathy Zimeras.