LaGRANGE — A local organization aimed at eliminating litter and improving the look of the community is gearing up for its annual cleanup.

Keep Troup Beautiful hosts the Great American Cleanup through May 21. The event encourages individuals and groups including schools, churches and civic clubs to pick an area and clean it.

“We are on a crusade in Troup County to make our county standout in Georgia and be an attraction to tourists and businesses alike,” states a press release from Keep Troup Beautiful. “Everyone has seen the litter, old tires and liquor containers littering our streets. It’s time to take our streets back!”

Keep Troup Beautiful recently completed its annual litter survey. Although it had not yet assessed the results, KTB officials said they “saw some very positive trends.”

“We would like to keep the momentum going with the Great American Cleanup,” the press release states.

Trash containers will be available in West Point, Hogansville and LaGrange for trash collected by the teams.

A closing ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 21 at Lafayette Square in LaGrange. The ceremony will have snacks and prizes for children, and KTB will award monetary prizes to the largest group and the group that finds the most usual item during its cleanup. There also will be prize drawings for attendees.

Groups who wish to participate should call Keep Troup Beautiful at 706-884-9922 to register their name, number of participants and area they intend to clean or improve. Teams are expected to report their progress upon completion of their project.

“We will keep a tally of how much trash (teams) have collected and report this to (state chapter) Keep Georgia Beautiful,” states the KTB press release.

KTB will provide teams with trash bags for their pick up project. A limited supply of T-shirts is available to participating groups.

Local sponsors for the event include Capital City Bank, T.J. Beall, West Georgia Health, Burger King and Walmart, KTB officials said.