2019 Rogers Scholar Allyson “Ally” Hobbs is making Lake Cumberland a cleaner and safer place for tourists to enjoy this summer.
Hobbs, a student at Southwestern High School, organized “Cleaning Up Lake Cumberland” for her Rogers Scholars community service project.
The project included three separate clean-up campaigns to pick up trash and debris around docks and marinas on Lake Cumberland.
“Being raised on Lake Cumberland, it brought a sense of joy to me to see how clean all the places were after we picked up as much trash as we could,” she said. “I am very grateful to the Rogers Scholars program. It provided me with life-long friends, and a community service project that heavily impacted my community.”
Due to COVID-19, Hobbs had to change her original plans for Cleaning Up Lake Cumberland. She and her immediate family participated in the clean-up campaign during the early days of the pandemic. However, Hobbs was able to bring together a group of Southwestern High School FBLA members in July to finish the project.
“While being a part of this community service project, I was able to experience first-hand the impact it had on Lake Cumberland,” said supporter Montana Lewis. “Cleaning up the lake not only helped the locals, but it allowed tourists coming from surrounding states and counties to view our lake as a clean, beautiful place to spend the weekend.”
Each graduate of The Center for Rural Development’s Rogers Scholars program is required to complete a community service project. For more information about Rogers Scholars, visit www.centeryouthprograms.com.