“It just makes you feel good to get out and do something,” said Katrina Sansom, who works with the Martin County Water District.

Several groups and organizations formed teams to clean the most impacted areas by picking up more than 200 bags of trash.

“I think it’s good for everyone to come together,” said Ms. Samson.

That was what many say the Saturday trash cleanup was all about.

“The local Kawannis club reached out to us and said we would like to get some people together,” recalled Jared Arnet, who is with Shaping Our Appalachian Region, also known as SOAR.

Mr. Arnet told Hazard, Ky. television station WYMT, a newly formed group, called “Martin County in Action” is a step in the right direction.

“Martin County in Action consists of people from across the county. It was formed to bring people together, discuss ideas, and create of movement and collaboration around opportunities aligned with the Blueprint For The Future of Appalachia” – Information Flyer, as quoted by Jared Arnet.

“We’ve been able to raise enough money to really start formalizing a group here in the next six months,” according to Mr. Arnet.

After the cleanup, many packed the Roy F. Collier Community Center gymnasium to announce $10,000 donation from multiple sponsors to help get it started.

“We’re really excited just to celebrate and talk about the future of Martin County,” Jared Arnet pointed out.

Mr. Arnet said regardless of the numerous problems, Martin County is not a lost cause.

“There are plenty of great communities that have great water that doesn’t flourish,” Jared Arnet explained.

Melissa Phelps with the county Kiwanis Club says they are looking forward to the new organization to start.

“It’s exciting to see it all come together and we hope everyone is willing to get on board,” said Ms. Phelps.

Phelps firmly stated that everyone who was joining the group did so they were in to prove something many have said for years, “Martin County matters.”

“There’s a lot of opportunities here and we want everyone to know about Martin County and to come visit us,” Melissa Phelps remarked.

If you would like to join “Martin County in Action”, you can send your contact information to Joshua Ball at joshua@soar-ky.org.