The Great Raleigh Cleanup: Fostering Community and Sustainable Thinking

IN todays episode of Oak City Move, Sophs talks with Preston Ross III, founder of The Great Raleigh Cleanup, a non-profit dedicated to helping create a litter-free Raleigh! We’re talking about so much more than picking up litter, we’re talking about community. From bringing people together through neighborhood cleanups to creating a sense of pride and ownership in the places we call home! Preston shares the story and journey behind The Great Raleigh Cleanup and the people who make the movement possible, as well as all the great volunteer opportunities that come with it! If you are interested in Volunteering with The Great Raleigh Cleanup then follow this link for more-- https://www.raleighcleanup.org/ 

Oak City Move is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2, student-run radio from NC State University. Like what you hear? Consider supporting it with a gift to the WKNC Enhancement Fund. Visit our podcast page to hear more and follow us on all social media platforms @WKNC881. Thanks for listening.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Sophs Magnanini

Public Affairs Director (2025-2026)

What is Oak City Move?

A radio program and podcast from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 celebrating those who enact positive changes in the Raleigh community.

00:00
Sophia Magnanini
Oak City Move is a podcast on WKNC's 88.1 FM HD 1 Raleigh where we highlight people and organizations creating positive change in the Triangle and beyond. Oak City Move can be heard on air Every Monday on 88.1 FM HD1 Raleigh or online at WKNC to listen to episodes and more, go to our blog at blog.wknc.org or follow us on SoundCloud at wknc881. Hello 88.1 WKNC Raleigh. The song you just heard was Sweaty linen by Surf Ninja 3. I'm Sophia Magnanini, your host and you're listening to Oak City Move. Today we are joined by a very special guest, Preston Ross III, founder of the Great Raleigh Cleanup, a non profit dedicated to creating a litter free Raleigh. First off, I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to join me.

00:51
Sophia Magnanini
And for listeners who may be hearing about the Great Raleigh Cleanup for the first time, if you kind of wanted to describe the organization and its mission,.

01:02
Preston Ross III
Absolutely, I'll tell you. As we near six years with this thing, I'll tell you what we started at was an organization aimed at creating environmental stewards in Raleigh, building community, picking up as much litter as possible. That's still very much at the core of what we do, but because we started some new programs, we've been able to extend our reach and now we're doing more with giving employment opportunities to folks who may be in crisis or unhoused. So that's a big part of what we do as well, but still very much at our core. Volunteerism, creating community, giving folks an opportunity to be of service, picking up litter, diverting aluminum is what we do.

01:44
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. If you wanted to go into. I know you just said that you guys are coming up on six years. What inspired you to create the Great Raleigh Cleanup? Was there a particular moment or experience or has this kind of just always been something that's been in your mind?

02:01
Preston Ross III
I mean, I really hate to sound so basic with it, but in all honesty, during COVID I was just like, man, there's a lot of litter on the ground and I wanted to go pick some of it up. I really hadn't thought about it much more past that. It was so it was just, hey, litter on the ground, somebody needs to go pick it up. I've never been the type of person that'll say they should. This person should. This entity should. I was like, I'm gonna go do it. I didn't realize the task that I was taking on. I thought it would be easier. I'm not 100 sure why, but I very quickly realized that it was not. And I needed the community's help. And that's kind of how we got where we are today.

02:40
Preston Ross III
But it all started just so simply walk down the road, pick up some trash.

02:44
Sophia Magnanini
I promise you that's awesome. Especially to hear like during COVID when not too many people, like, can be out there working as well, and that you're kind of taking it into your own hands. And that's just so awesome.

02:56
Preston Ross III
Yeah.

02:57
Sophia Magnanini
What. What's it like turning an idea like you were saying, into an actual community organization as Raleigh. The great Raleigh cleanup is today.

03:07
Preston Ross III
It's a bit surprising, honestly. Still, it's a bit jarring. Again, you know, I don't want to repeat myself too much, but as stated, this is all supposed to be like a hobby. This was just like, you know, a thing to do. As I say that maybe it wasn't supposed to be a hobby. Maybe it was supposed to be something bigger. But when I started it was. I had another job. I was doing other stuff. I was like, I'm just gonna do this once or twice a month and see if I can have an impact, maybe get some people to come with me. I never, ever envisioned that little thing that I started back in October of 2020 would grow into what it is today.

03:40
Preston Ross III
And even as the founder, as the person who runs it, I am still taken aback and overwhelmed by what the community has made this thing.

03:50
Sophia Magnanini
No, that's so awesome to hear, especially just how. How much you guys have grown so quickly. And it's just so nice to hear that so many people are also like, you willing to come together to help clean up their. Their community.

04:06
Preston Ross III
Absolutely.

04:07
Sophia Magnanini
Like during. During the cleanups and like your programs. What? Or just, I mean, I guess throughout all of the great cleanups, like lifespan, I guess what have you seen are some of the biggest, like, environmental challenges you see in Raleigh and just challenges in general when it comes to helping to clean up.

04:31
Preston Ross III
I'm gonna say this, and I hope I, you know, I don't want to offend anyone, but the fact of the matter is it's just a lot of people. I think part of the started great Raleigh cleanup is because Raleigh was having an influx of people moving here. And even if it's not malicious with more people just becomes more trash, more litter, more stuff. We are a society of over consumption. That's not just a Raleigh thing. That's not just a United States of America thing. That's a global thing. We are a society of over consumption and with that comes a lot of litter. And so just trying to keep up with that. Trying to Geno, I think they say every day a couple hundred people move to Raleigh.

05:10
Preston Ross III
And just trying to make sure I'm reaching out to those couple hundreds, like, hey, this is what you're moving into. This is what we're trying to do here. So it's just trying to keep up with the need. And the organization just continues to grow. So we're continuing. We're able to be in more places, having more impact and spreading our wings even farther.

05:26
Sophia Magnanini
No, that's awesome. Especially because, yeah, like you, you were saying so many people are moving into Raleigh and it's just growing every day. And so it's really great that you guys are helping kind of come. Not combat people moving in, but the inevitable litter that comes with it and you guys are kind of making it and keeping it the cleaner Raleigh that these people are moving for. So it's really important what you guys are doing.

05:57
Preston Ross III
Absolutely. And like I said, we're just, you know, just doing our best to meet the need. To meet the need. And knowing that, you know, we, you know, I have to remind myself, you can't say the world, you can just do what you can do. And that's where we're after, is just to do what I can do.

06:12
Sophia Magnanini
Which is so cool. How, how do you think the community cleanups make a difference beyond just picking up trash that you find? Does it help like bring people together? Have you seen communities get closer?

06:29
Preston Ross III
So, so I'll be honest with you. The litter clean and cleaned up and all of that is secondary to the real work of building community. I'll just give you a couple examples. I'll give you one from our volunteer efforts. We had. This is very early in our tenure. We had a, a young lady join us in January of 2021. And in March of 2021, a gentleman joined us. These people had never met before. They didn't know each other. These two people now have two children. And it's all because they decided to come to a cleanup and made connection outside of that. That's from. Just from volunteers. And I can talk about relationships and friendships and all of those things. People who travel together. So the litter is just a byproduct.

07:17
Preston Ross III
You know, I always say litter brought us together, but community makes us who we are. And even from our workforce Side of it, that's the program where we offer employment to folks facing crisis, housing insecurity, things of that nature. You know, a lot of litter gets picked up through that program. But we're also providing opportunity and income to people who are, you know, in really tough times and doing the best they can to survive. So I know for a fact this, you know, whether it be 80 bucks, 100 bucks, 120 bucks, whatever they make that day can be absolutely life changing depending on the particular person and what they're going through. So I'm just glad we're able to provide that opportunity for folks that's,.

07:57
Sophia Magnanini
That's so amazing because. Yeah, like you were saying is about picking up litter and trash and making the community cleaner. But then the way that you bring the community together while doing this is just so cool. Probably like the people that haven't ever met before, creating relationships, getting married, having children, like that is so cool to think about that it all just started from just a volunteer opportunity.

08:27
Preston Ross III
Absolutely. Absolutely. Like I said with all of this, it's still very much shocking to me today.

08:35
Sophia Magnanini
I love that along with that kind of. I know we're talking about volunteers. What kind of roles do the volunteers play to help the Great Raleigh cleanup, like be successful?

08:49
Preston Ross III
I mean, they are the backbone of this organization. I mean, we wouldn't be in the position we are. This wouldn't be my full time job.

08:55
Preston Ross III
We wouldn't have a workforce program if volunteers hadn't showed up in the beginning and continue to show up and just show their strength and their ability to pick up behind, pick, you know, pick up trash that isn't theirs and clean up behind someone else, go into the, into difficult terrain amongst the brush and bramble and all of that and just as get as much litter up as they can and have the largest impact they can and continue to show up, whether that's at a concert two or three nights a week, or if we're doing cleanups every weekend, like with a smile on their face and ready to work and ready to learn and ready to loot, ready to leave all scratched up because, you know, they got into a vine or something that had thorns on it.

09:37
Preston Ross III
I just, I absolutely love our volunteers and I try to make it a point to just let them know how much I absolutely appreciate what they do for this organization and this city.

09:48
Sophia Magnanini
No, that's so amazing because. Yeah, especially it being like volunteer roles where they aren't necessarily getting paid to do this, but they're still coming out because they love the community, they love helping the environment. They, they love just being a part of the cleanup, which just also says a lot about what you have created, this kind of community, which is so awesome.

10:13
Preston Ross III
Yeah. And I'm very proud to just be a part of it, honestly.

10:20
Sophia Magnanini
Can you explain kind of what a day of cleanup might look like or. And if you want to also talk about some of the programs that you.

10:27
Preston Ross III
Guys have, I think that might be easier than explaining the day of cleanup because that. For volunteer, I can. For me, I'd be hours trying to make sure I covered all the bases. But for a volunteer, that means that you've signed up, you've joined our volunteer platform, meetup.com backslash Raleigh cleanup. You found a concert, you found the cleanup, you found the event that suits you and that you want to be a part of. You signed up for it and you've agreed to 90 minutes, 2 hours, 3 hours, whatever the event tells, and you show up ready to be of service. You know, I'm never going to ask anything, anyone to do anything dangerous. Just do, you know, to the best of your ability, what you agreed to? So say for instance, you signed up for a concert at Red Hat.

11:12
Preston Ross III
You show up, eight o', clock, sign in, give your supplies, and then you're walking around and you're opening up trash cans, making sure no aluminum goes into the landfill and that the aluminum we will recycle is not contaminated. We do that for about three out, two hours. You watch some the artist, if it's someone you like, you get a chance to kind of sit back and enjoy the show. And then once the show is over, we're picking up aluminum off the ground and making sure that it gets properly recycled. If it's a cleanup, you're doing the same. Instead of just picking up aluminum, we're just picking up trash along the creek, greenway or roadside. So those are the programs. That's our landfill diversion program, our cleanup program. You know, with the fall coming around, we do a lot where we support events happening downtown.

11:59
Preston Ross III
We'll be at Band Together, will be at Raleigh, wide Open, just being a support, you know, keeping trash off the ground, making sure the trash cans are empty and all of those things. So it's a really good time. You know, I tell people all the time when they show up. Rarely, very rarely do they show up once. They usually come back again.

12:18
Sophia Magnanini
That's so cool. And yeah, like I was saying before, also, it just Kind of goes to show what type of program that you've created, that people come and then they just want to keep coming back and just building these relationships and just helping the community is. It's so inspiring and it's really great what you've created.

12:38
Preston Ross III
Thank you. I really appreciate that.

12:41
Sophia Magnanini
Like, with these programs and just the cleanups in general, how have you seen the Raleigh community and like, people outside of the cleanup coming together and just how do they respond?

12:53
Preston Ross III
Well, I'm just gonna be honest. Like, I could tell you from, you know, from my. From my position as the executive director and overseer of this organization. You know, I'm just thinking about the people who like, donate every month. Like, you know, we have 30 plus monthly donors, and you couldn't tell me six years ago, like, people were going to give you money because they support your mission. I'm like, what do you mean? Like, what do you mean? The people who like, you know, they'll. Not only do they donate, but if they have an opportunity, they'll bring their. The company they work for into the organization as another opportunity for us to gain some funding.

13:26
Preston Ross III
Or they'll supply snacks to, you know, the workforce folks that we work with who might not have something to eat at night or they'll give some generally used clothing or shoes like that. Like the. The community. The outpouring from the Raleigh community that I've seen just for great Raleigh cleanup along has been. It's. It's been outstanding. And it's one of those things that, you know, is so much negativity that you hear about on the news that unfortunately the good doesn't get amplified like it should. But I can just tell you from my perspective, doing the work I do overseeing this organization, people are so dang good, man. People are absolutely phenomenal. And Raleigh has some of the best ones. I'm going to be honest with you.

14:10
Sophia Magnanini
That's so good to hear. And yeah, it's really important to have that bit of hope and just togetherness in your own community because like you're saying when so much is going on just in. In our country as a whole, and like, a lot of the good is being outshined by the bad. It's so important to still stick through and. And have. Have your things that help you bring community together and just help people in general.

14:42
Preston Ross III
Absolutely. And that's. That's what. That's what I'm hoping to build. Like I said, the. The litter and the trash that we get up obviously is important, but it's so secondary to the true mission this organization is, you know, to. To bring folks together, whether they're housed unhoused. You know, I even say, you know, no matter your, you know, who you pick at the polls, I don't care about that. I want you to be a part of this community. I want you to meet somebody that you normally wouldn't meet, interact with someone. And that's what I. And that's what. That's who I want us to be,.

15:15
Sophia Magnanini
Which is so awesome. And as the CEO and creator. Oh, what would you say has been the most rewarding part of leading the Great Raleigh Cleanup? I know this might kind of be hard with how long it's been going on, but just overall, just in my.

15:36
Preston Ross III
Mind, it's just, you know, watching it grow every day, you know, watching it grow outside of me, I think has been one of the biggest things just to know that, like, it doesn't have to be me. I don't have to be, you know, I mean, it's very much getting to a place while where programs are being run and I'm not on site, you know, for four years, like, it really couldn't happen without me being there. I mean, I still very much like to be places, but it's giving me the opportunity to be, you know, more of an executive role and out, you know, talking to folks like you. So. And make a connection where, you know, I don't have to worry that our program is not.

16:14
Preston Ross III
Organization is still absolutely in good hands and impact is happening and people are having a good time and they're feeling appreciated and coming together. And that. That's. That's what I've. I've. I've enjoyed most about the growth of Great Rock Cleanup is just to see, hey, yeah, it doesn't have to be me all the time.

16:33
Sophia Magnanini
Yeah. Which I can only imagine how just nice that must feel. Like you've created this. This project for so long, and the fact that you get to see it kind of be fulfilled year by year must be so cool.

16:51
Preston Ross III
It really is. It really is. And just to, like I said to just, you know, I won't always be the executive director of Grey Rock Cleanup, but I'll always be the founder. And I can always just kind of take that with me to say, hey, you decided to do a thing. And, you know, babies were born and friendships were made, people were pay. And, you know, just because, you know, I kind of decided to do a thing, so I'll always be grateful for that and that. That opportunity.

17:15
Sophia Magnanini
Yeah, it's so great. Because, yeah, like you're saying, you created something to help the environment, help the Raleigh community. And it's affected so many people's lives, like to the point of having children, to making new friends. It's so awesome and just amazing to hear.

17:34
Preston Ross III
Yeah. And if I'm being honest with you, I think I could say I created it for me because I just knew that I like, I needed to do more. I needed to do something. I needed to be, you know, I needed to have some sort of impact on people on the planet, on whatever. I just knew that I like, needed to be doing something and, and great Rally Cleanup just happened to be it. If it wasn't this, it would be something else. But, you know, I just had, I felt like I just had to be giving up myself to others to, you know, try to make this place.

18:06
Sophia Magnanini
Better while I'm here, which is so incredibly important. Especially like you're saying how it started during COVID which is a time when a lot of us kind of were left to our own devices to kind of just be by ourselves. And so it's really cool that you took that opportunity to create something so much bigger. And have you kind of seen a difference from when it was happening during COVID to then after COVID?

18:33
Preston Ross III
Well, it just continues to grow. It's just, you know, like every day it's just there's just more and more. More people. You know, my favorite thing in the world is when we have an event and how many first time volunteers are we going to get to sign up? I always want to know that. And that's something that we track. You know, we've had in all of our programs and all of the things we've done, I think we've had over 3,000 volunteers. And at one point, I don't. I'm not as. The tracking is not as in depth as. As it once was. But at one point it was like 40 of people who joined Girly Cleanup came back more than once. And I was just like, that's. That's incredible.

19:09
Preston Ross III
And like I said, we kind of grown so much that it's really hard to track that. But it's still, you know, there are certain people that if I don't see them for a month, I'm like, yo, where you been? Where, Where? What's going on? You know, I literally want to check in. Is everything okay? Because I'm just so used to seeing them at different events that, you know, I need to know what's up.

19:30
Sophia Magnanini
Right. Which, that's just so cool because not only are helping bring the community together, bring just the cleanup together, but you are also creating these connections with people and it's becoming like it's so, it's just honestly so awesome. And how fast it's kind of gotten there, Gotten to that point.

19:53
Preston Ross III
Yeah. I mean, six years, you know. Yes. Anybody? It seems like COVID was. Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday, sometimes it feels like it was 20 years ago. But just to see where we've come and what we've done in this short amount of time, it's just, I'm excited because if we, you know, I had no plan of doing any of the things that we ultimately ended up doing and creating. So if we can do that, I always like to say if I can do that by accident, what can we do on purpose? And you know, now we kind of have our mission. Now we know where we're going and you know, let's kind of figure it out.

20:26
Sophia Magnanini
Yeah, that's awesome. And speaking of like, where you guys are going, are there any upcoming projects or events, goals that you guys have that you're particularly excited about?

20:38
Preston Ross III
Well, we do have some things coming down a pipe. Some. I'm always, always trying to find new programming, new ways to be impactful, new ways to get folks involved. So keep an eye, you know, on all our socials and LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, because we will be announcing some things very soon about in regards to the growth of the organization. But as just as far as getting involved, the fall is about to be busy. I, I mean we have more concerts, we have more cleanups. We, we start support. We, we're. This is back. We're back for our third year of supporting NC State football and that's about to start. And then like I said, all the events that are happening, we're going to be supporting El Peblo in September. We're going to be supporting Raleigh Wide Open in October.

21:28
Preston Ross III
We're going to be supporting the Oyster Fest. We're going to be supporting Band Together. And so if you want to get involved and you don't want it to be 99 degree, keep an eye on what we have coming in September, October and November because we will definitely need the support of volunteers because we have said yes to so many different things and we want to make sure we're able to keep our promise.

21:52
Sophia Magnanini
That's actually so awesome. And it's so cool that, yeah, all these different events. You guys are kind of in the back. The backbone of it at the end of the day because just the amount of people that go to these things and then the fact that you guys are helping to clean everything up and make it look good and just helping the environment, making sure different things are going where they're supposed to be. So, so cool. Yeah, I can imagine the hard work that goes into it with you and the volunteers and just the staff in general.

22:24
Preston Ross III
Absolutely. And again, the more the merrier. We were in. I am solely, obviously cannot make all of these things happen. It is not me. It is not me and someone else. It is the entire community. Anyone who wants to get involved, who just likes to. We're always, I mean everything we do is outside. We're always outside. We're always being a support. Whether that's downtown, whether that's at 1A Creek Music park, whether that's at Red Hat Amphitheater, on a roadside, in a creek, on a greenway, wherever we can be of service, that's where we're going to be. And we need, we know we need the folks to show up who want to want to do good in the community.

23:03
Sophia Magnanini
I mean this is a good time. If you wanted to kind of plug where people can go if they wanted to volunteer.

23:12
Preston Ross III
Absolutely. Meetup.com M E-E-T-U-P.com Backslash Raleigh cleanup everything we all of our social tags, our website, everything is Raleigh Cleanup. So even our website, raleighcleanup.org if you want to email us info raleighcleanup.org Instagram Facebook threads X Raleigh Cleanup Always just if you Google Raleigh Cleanup we will come up as we should be the first search result. And hopefully if we've done a good enough job, you know, navigating our website, we should be able to figure out what it is that you want to do and where you fit and you know, kind of find your lane within the organization.

23:56
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. So yeah, any listeners, make sure to go to those links. Go look up, go look up Raleigh Cleanup because sounds like such a cool organization, such a cool experience, such a cool community. And as we kind of come up towards the end of our chat, what are your hopes for the future of great Raleigh Cleanup? Do you have any big ideas or kind of just like little inklings of what you might want to do as the years grow for the Raleigh Cleanup?

24:32
Preston Ross III
Well, I just want to make it more sustainable. Like I said, I, you know, I won't be doing it forever. And I want to make sure that we're able to leave something for folks to be a part of. You know, I want to make sure that we continue to have an impact where we can continue to recruit new volunteers, new community members. I just want it to be the best that it can be. I wanted to grow as much as it can grow and impact as much as it can impact. I don't necessarily soft snow what all that means and what all that looks like. I just know that there's more that we can do. And again, we can't do it without the support of the people.

25:05
Preston Ross III
So hopefully I can continue giving opportunities for folks who want to be of service, who want to support, who want to do good in the community, which.

25:14
Sophia Magnanini
Is so awesome, so inspiring. Like, what you guys are doing is just so incredibly cool and just also great for the environment, great for the community. And you're helping to keep Raleigh cleaner, safer, more sustainable. And it's something that anyone listening should get in on because it's just generally such a cool project, such a cool organization.

25:42
Preston Ross III
I really appreciate that. And I think the thing I'll say is that at this point now we're kind of doing so much that I think you can kind of find your lane. Maybe picking up trash isn't your thing, but seeing free shows is or, you know, maybe, you know, being, you know, in the, on the roadside is interesting, but you don't mind being downtown Fable street at a big event or a Lincoln Theater at Band Together's event. So we're doing so much that I think there's an opportunity for folks who just want to get involved, they can get involved. And again, you know, if you decide that, hey, my, your only capacity is to kind of get out on your own and do this thing. We have a program called Adopt a Block.

26:22
Preston Ross III
We'll supply you with what you need to go out and clean up litter on your own. So just check us out, peruse the website, hit me up on info at Raleigh Cleanup with any questions or shoot me a DM on Instagram or message on Facebook and you know, hopefully I can answer any questions and get you involved in this thing in one way or another.

26:46
Sophia Magnanini
Well, perfect. Thank you so much for coming and taking the time out of your day to talk about the great Raleigh Cleanup with us. And just everything you guys do, everything you guys have become and what you're going to become, it's generally so cool. And I've Heard about the Raleigh Cleanup throughout the years, but getting able. Being able to actually talk to you and go more in depth, learn all about it just makes it so much more special.

27:15
Preston Ross III
Well, I'm just. I'm glad. I'm proud of the opportunity. I'm thankful for, I should say, for the opportunity to talk about the organization, to talk about the people that make this organization what it is, to hopefully get this message out to, you know, if. If two volunteers join us because they heard this podcast interview, then it was absolutely a win. And just want to make sure that people know that door is always open for you to join, participate, and be a part of this thing.

27:45
Sophia Magnanini
Awesome. Well, thank you so much again.

27:48
Preston Ross III
And so I'm incredibly grateful to you, to WKNC and everyone who just gave us this, you know, just 30 minutes to just kind of brain dump about what Great Raleigh Cleanup is. And like I said, hopefully someone gets something from it and welcome in some new community members.

28:08
Sophia Magnanini
Exactly. Yeah. Well, thank you so much again, and I hope you have a great day.

28:14
Preston Ross III
All right, talk to you soon. Take care.

28:15
Sophia Magnanini
Yes, you too. As we come up on the end of our chat, I just want to thank Preston again for coming in and talking about the Great Raleigh Cleanup with me. Such an amazing person, such an amazing organization and community. I feel like everyone who listened and feels like that might be something that they like, they should definitely go and take a look at their websites. I will link them in the description. And just thank you all again for listening to Oak City Move once again. I'm your host, Sophia Magnini, and if you're interested in listening to this episode again or to past episodes of the show, please go to WKNC podcast and make sure to tune into our show every Monday on WKNC 88.1 FM Raleigh. Have a great day. It.