Erick Wade
| Erick Wade | |
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Early Life
Erick Wade is an American anti-litter volunteer from Huntsville, Alabama. He has volunteered with Operation Green Team, the City of Huntsville's litter-prevention programme, since 2016, and in 2021 received the Alabama People Against a Littered State (PALS) Governor's Award.[1][4] The Huntsville Beautification Board gave him its Green Team Volunteer Recognition in 2022.[3] By 2025 he had written Fight For the City, a comic book about litter prevention distributed to Huntsville schools.[2]
Volunteer work
Wade joined Operation Green Team in 2016 and adopted a mile of Sparkman Drive in north Huntsville through the city's Adopt-A-Mile programme, cleaning it on Sundays. Of the commitment he said: "Rain, sleet or snow, I'm usually out there. I might have missed one or two weekends, but my name is on that sign and I made a commitment." George Martin, the Green Team coordinator, described him as "a get up and go kind of guy" who "gets out in the community and does the hard work himself."[1]
He also takes part in the city's Adopt-A-Spot programme, cleaning an area of Meridian Street weekly since 2015, and changed the wording on his Adopt-A-Spot sign to read "For those who can't" in reference to elderly residents unable to take part themselves.[2] On the weekend he married, he attended a Flint River cleanup event for several hours before the ceremony.[1]
Wade has described the work as its own reward, saying "I get a peace of mind out of it. I get exercise. It makes me feel good giving back," and citing the response of older residents: "I get a lot of elderly people who come out and say, 'Hey, thank you. We appreciate it.'" Of the scale of the task he said, "I'm doing the best I can with what I've got."[2]
Fight for the City
Wade wrote Fight For the City, his first comic book, reported in March 2025, in which a character called the "Huntsville Hero" confronts "litter villains"; the story incorporates the names of local roads. It was illustrated by the Huntsville artist Deno Conerly. Wade worked with Operation Green Team's Green Ambassador programme to distribute copies to schools, saying he "wanted to try and pull people into this in a creative way."[2]
Recognition
Wade received the Alabama PALS Governor's Award in 2021 for his volunteer work with Operation Green Team.[1][4] In August 2022 the Huntsville Beautification Board named him for its Green Team Volunteer Recognition at the annual Beautification Awards ceremony, held at Oakwood University; the board judged more than 500 properties that year and presented 386 awards.[3]
Wade has received the President's Volunteer Service Award in three consecutive years, including at gold level in 2024. The award is issued to volunteers who meet a threshold of recorded service hours, and is accompanied by a standard letter of appreciation; the letter Wade received carried the signature of President Joe Biden and read in part, "On behalf of the American people, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to you for your volunteer leadership, and I encourage you to continue to answer the call to service."[2]
In January 2025 Governor Kay Ivey issued Wade a commendation, which stated that "Mr. Wade's quest for a greater Huntsville reflects a heart of service" and that "he leads by example."[2]
