The volunteers say definitely got their money's worth.

Missy Matthews of Childers Oil Company says flooding has brought a lot of trash in to neon and Letcher County and they were in the trenches to clean it up.

“The water was actually in downtown Neon on main street for one of those floods,” Matthews says. “It just got really high the second time. So it's definitely been a tropical year in eastern Kentucky.”

Matthews says more than 50 volunteers from the Childers Oil Company and from the Neon community came together to help clean up this river behind me as part of the river sweep.

“I think it's a passion to help and a passion for this community,” Matthews says. “This is a very tight knit community and we're really lucky to be part of it.”

Volunteers found a wide variety of items including hot water heaters, tires, and even roadside signs.

“We all live in this community, we work here our children are here and we're very proud,” volunteer Katie Turner says. “We're a very proud company and they're proud of our employees and the community that we all live in.”

Turner says, “It's going to happen. It does happen it's proven that's why we're here today but it is frustrating as to why people want to throw their trash out.”

Kathy Lucas says having these volunteers makes a big difference for this project.

“We do it,” Lucas says. “We have a good time doing it. I love doing stuff like this to get out there and we have fun. We enjoy ourselves and try and help make everything look better.”

And all the volunteers agree that everyone in eastern Kentucky is family and should keep their streams and rivers clean.

Matthews says Childers Oil Company will also be cleaning up an illegal dump in Willstone in October.