Add the Great Outdoors and Glad Into Your Spring Cleaning Routine

(Family Features) Spring is not just the season to clean out closets and cupboards, but it can also be a great time to spruce up your community -- from the neighborhood block to the public beach -- and to make sure outdoor spaces are ready for everyone to enjoy as the weather warms up.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1592845One organization can help. Keep America Beautiful is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education non-profit focusing on litter prevention, waste reduction and beautification. Every year between March and May, the organization's Great American Cleanup mobilizes three million volunteers who spend 5.7 million hours to clean 33,000 communities in 30,000 events nationwide.The Internet news talk show "Jim Cates @ CJOnline'' can be heard live from 8 to 10 a.m. Mondays and Fridays. To access the show, go to CJOnline.com and click "Listen!''"These dresses are just too pretty to be used once," Jamai Luna, another THS mother and member of the after-prom committee. "They need to dance one more time."Cunningham shared easy ways to expand your annual spring cleaning outside the home to help clean and beautify your community:At least that is what the organizers of the first Topeka High School Prom Closet believe."What I love about our spring events is not just the immediate difference you see volunteers make on the beaches, in the parks and for the recreation areas of this country, but it is also the lasting impression the work makes on everyone in the community," said Gail Cunningham, managing director of the Great American Cleanup. "It reminds us that we all can do our part to make our neighborhoods beautiful and that there are simple ways to do it."Today: Tim Hrenchir, Topeka Capital-Journal reporter, reviews courthouse and City Hall issues; Mayor Bill Bunten gives an update from the mayor's perspective."I was excited to be able to give these away," she said, referring to three dresses, a blouse and a pantsuit. "It's pretty high quality stuff. It's nice to give it to people who are going to use it."

Wendy MacDonald wmacdonald@familyfeatures.com 1-888-824-3337 ext. 235 http://editors.familyfeatures.com