A "letter to the editor" from the City of Kokomo
(Editor’s note: While the following statement was not sent to the Kokomo Lantern as a Letter to the Editor, it is a direct address to the community from the City of Kokomo that fits the format and is worthy of publication.)
We would like to thank everyone who took advantage of the opportunity to declutter their homes and properties this past Saturday during the City of Kokomo’s Waste Away initiative! This event was created with the goal of helping Kokomo and Howard County residents clean out their homes—garages, closets, and yards—in a simple, free, and community-focused way.
The response we received was far greater than expected, and while we’re grateful for the enthusiasm, it quickly overwhelmed the resources we had in place. So, with that in mind, The City of Kokomo also wishes to sincerely apologize to our community for how Waste-Away Day ended.
Due to the extreme turnout, we had to make the difficult decision to close all drop-off locations at noon, well before the planned 3:00 p.m. end time. We understand this was frustrating for those who planned their day around the event, and we’re truly sorry for the inconvenience. We also appreciate those who, although frustrated with the unfortunate decision that was made, still recognized the benefit of the initiative and were understanding and respectful to those city employees who were at each site, navigating the traffic.
We received an unusually high-volume drop-offs, including full U-Haul trucks, trailers, and bulk furniture, some of which arrived overnight before the event truly started. This made it impossible to safely and fairly continue serving the community as efficiently as we had intended.
The good news is that in total we collected approximately 35,000 cubic feet of discarded items, far exceeding the original expectations and simply caused us to reach capacity much sooner than anticipated. We take full responsibility for not anticipating this level of demand and for not having stronger controls in place to prevent some misuse. Looking ahead to future clean-up initiatives, we will be reviewing how this event was structured and how to ensure it better serves our residents while remaining safe, fair, and sustainable.
Again, we truly appreciate everyone who participated respectfully and supported the spirit of the day. Thank you for your understanding as we work to improve future events. Thanks go to each school district in Howard County for allowing us to use their facilities as collection sites.
We want to especially give a huge shout-out to the street department staff from the city that worked throughout the day, keeping things rolling as well as possible and checking people in. And we also can’t thank the staff from Junksters Dumpsters enough for stepping in and helping provide several extra containers throughout the morning and early afternoon. They worked selflessly through the evening as well to help pick up items discarded that didn’t make it into the actual bins.
Finally, thank you to the local Goodwill for reaching out and offering their participation. They too were able to collect almost an entire semi-trailer of clothing, furniture, home furnishings, and electronics to repurpose, keeping items from going to landfills. Those items will eventually be able to be part of what Goodwill does to financially support our local Excel Center in their efforts to provide educational and supportive services to their many clients and their families.
We want to take a moment to recognize and thank the Mayor’s Youth Council members and a number of their friends and family for their incredible work downtown Saturday!
While many citizens were taking part in Waste-Away Day, this outstanding group of volunteers, representing all five Howard County school districts, spent their Saturday morning giving back in a different way: helping clean up our downtown. They worked their way through alleys and along sidewalks and streets, picking up debris and filling bags with trash to make our community a cleaner, more welcoming place for everyone.
Their willingness to volunteer their time, roll up their sleeves, and take pride in our community speaks volumes about the future of Kokomo and Howard County. These students and volunteers set an example of leadership, service, and civic responsibility that deserves to be recognized and celebrated.
We are incredibly grateful for their hard work and dedication and want to thank them for making a visible difference and for showing what community spirit truly looks like!
Please join us in thanking these amazing young future leaders. And look forward to opportunities to join the Mayor’s Youth Council at their future Community Clean Up events in the upcoming months!