The Rotary Club of Fallbrook has participated in the Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway program for over 30 years. Here's how we're helping to keep things clean.
On a warm Saturday morning in August, members of the Rotary Club of Fallbrook were doing their part to keep the community clean. Rotarians spread out across the intersection of Old Highway 395 and the I-15 Freeway to pick up trash and debris that had been tossed out along the roadside. Armed with pick-up tools, trash bags provided by Caltrans, and a positive attitude, they spent a few hours hiking the on- and off-ramps picking up litter and refuse.The Rotary Club of Fallbrook adopted the intersection as a part of the Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway program. The club has a long history with the program. Members estimate the club has been involved in Adopt-A-Highway for over 30 years.
Rotarian Jack Wood has coordinated the club’s Adopt-A-Highway program for the past 18 years. Club members volunteer their time one Saturday a month to clean up the intersection. Wood shared that they have found some interesting items cast off along the highway, including car keys, credit cards, a mailbox, tools, and car parts. Club members bag the trash as they work, and Caltrans sends a truck to pick up the bags once the work is finished. Items like credit cards are handed off to the authorities to be returned to the owners.
On one occasion, the Rotarians assisted a driver that passed out after pulling off the highway. They called paramedics who then transported her to the hospital. The driver borrowed Wood’s phone to call a family member but did not return it to him. He had to track the ambulance down to get his phone back.When asked why this work is important, Wood referenced the Rotary motto, Service Above Self, and said, “I like to think we make Fallbrook a welcome place by having clean roads leading into our village. It says we have a village that cares.”