Golden effort: Corner man dedicates years to cleaning up his community
By Brittany Decker
Click here for updates on this story
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Alabama (WVTM) — What looks like a mess along the side of the road in Corner turns out to be something much more meaningful, thanks to one man who keeps showing up to clean it.
Every few days, and sometimes within minutes, the trash returns.
Beer cans. Soda bottles. Fast-food wrappers. Tires. Even furniture.
“It’s one thing to see a problem and complain about it,” said Keith Golden. “And there’s another to strap up your boots and go out and fix the problem.”
Golden has spent the past 20 years doing just that.
In this unincorporated community that borders Walker, Blount and Jefferson counties, Golden is known for many things. He substitutes at the local school. He calls football games for those who can’t attend. On Facebook, he’s a go-to source for weather updates.
But on the roadside, he’s something else entirely.
Armed with work gloves and trash bags, Golden spends four to seven hours at a time clearing debris, climbing down hillsides, cutting through briars and even wading into creeks to pull out waste.
“I’ve waded in knee-deep water before to get Styrofoam out,” he said. “It’s just part of the job.”
What he finds can be surprising.
“A gun, one time. Tools. I found money. I found a prosthetic leg,” Golden said.
Much of the trash, he said, starts small — a single cup or bag tossed from a car window.
But it adds up.
“It’s just a cup, but with everybody doing it, that’s hundreds of bags and hundreds of cups,” he said.
In one weekend alone, Golden collected 86 bags of trash and nearly 2,700 pounds of debris. Since October, he said he has picked up close to 23,000 pounds and nearly 100 tons over the past several years.
Still, he keeps going.
Sometimes, his work doesn’t go unnoticed. School bus drivers honk as they pass. Students wave. As a substitute teacher, he uses those moments to talk about responsibility and community.
“This is not just a Corner problem,” Golden said. “This is an everywhere problem.”
For him, the solution is simple.
“Care,” he said. “Care enough about your community.”
And in a place where trash can pile up quickly, Golden proves that consistency, and a willingness to act, can make a lasting difference — even if it starts with just one bag at a time.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.