Starting
a non-profit organization was not something Sue 
Wiseman anticipated when she and her family decided to do
something about the furniture, appliances, mattresses and
trash regularly dumped on the old road where they rode horses.
Sue organized her neighbors to help with a cleanup and then
went
to her township supervisors to see if they would provide trucks
to haul the trash to the landfill. Because the township was
concerned about liability issues and hauling costs, they said
they couldn't help. So that spring, Sue scheduled the cleanup
to coincide with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Day. She and
the other volunteers hauled the trash out to a state road
and PennDOT removed and properly disposed of it.
The
township solicitor felt that there were many people out
there, just like Sue, who would be willing to volunteer
to clean up the illegal dumps and litter along many of Pennsylvania's
non-state maintained roads. If there was an organization
that would provide insurance and cleanup guidelines, those
citizens could start cleaning up the areas they cared about
throughout Westmoreland County. He helped Sue with the paperwork
and the initial fees to launch PA CleanWays.
Once
word spread that this non-profit group existed, folks in
other counties wanted to find out how they could form their
own chapter and start cleaning up their communities. Since
1990, PACW has had a presence in 64 of the 67 counties in
Pennsylvania, either through affiliates or in state forests
and parks, where illegal dump cleanups have taken place
through the Forest Lands Beautification Program.
Although
Sue's background was in engineering, not trash, her commitment
and passion helped organize hundreds of volunteers, figure
out how local and state governments operate, write successful
grants, and manage an organization that grew from one person
to many. What started with one cleanup on a road she cared
about turned into hundreds of projects, including illegal
dump cleanups, adoptions, beautification projects, hard-to-recycle
events, and the creation of educational materials for all
age groups.
Sue
Wiseman is proof that one person really can make a difference.
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