CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Volunteers plan to pick up needles on Charleston’s East End as part of a clean up event.
The Kanawha Communities That Care is hosting the event at 8 a.m. Saturday.
About 40 volunteers will meet at the Plaza East parking lot located on Morris Street across from Appalachian Power Park in Charleston.
This comes ahead of a City Council vote Monday to end the needle exchange program at the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.
Mayor Danny Jones, Police Chief Steve Cooper and other city officials want to do away with the program after multiple needles were found on city streets. They said it puts the lives of the public and city employees at risk.
Advocates say the program helps stop the spread of infectious diseases and gives drug addicts a point of contact for recovery.
Kim Shoemake, project coordinator for KCTC, said they just want to make the region a safer place to live.
“Our goal is to make Kanawha County a drug-free community and a good place to live, work and play,” she said.
Volunteers on Saturday will be provided with gloves and other equipment. Sanitation officials with the health department will be on site to assist volunteers with disposing needles.
“We will have a training on how to properly pick up needles and how to properly dispose of those,” Shoemake said. “We’re actually using the grabbers to pick them up so they do not come in contact with those.”
The Charleston Police Department has identified clean up locations in the city, Shoemake said.
“We will be going to those locations with the police department and picking up those needles,” she said.