Six trash bins placed down Hopkins Street were donated by the Rho Omicron Foundation with monetary help from Centerpoint Energy.

Members of the Rho Omicon Foundation take on several community projects, including cleaning up the highway.

They discovered one area of Hopkins was full of litter a day after they spent hours volunteering to clean.

So they got a boost of energy.

The problem found a solution thanks to Centerpoint Energy, who partnered with the Rho Omicron Foundation to install six garbage bins on Hopkins Street between Lombard and Mixon streets.

After adopting part of Hopkins Street to clean up periodically, Everette Manuel said members of the Rho Omicron Foundation would often find trash in spots they had cleaned up the day before.

“We sponsored this highway and did a cleanup a few months ago,” Manuel said Wednesday. “We came out here and picked up a lot of trash, and the next day it was like we didn’t do anything.

“We just wanted to fill that void from the northside to here,” Manuel added.

Tony Gardner of Centerpoint Energy said the company provided a monetary donation for the project as part of the foundation grant work Centerpoint engages in seasonally.

“We do foundation grants and look to partner with nonprofits to make sure that we’re contributing back to the community,” Gardner said.

Rho Omicron then partnered with Edward Robertson from Robertson Welding in St. Martinville for the construction of the trash bins, which were installed in cement several weeks ago. Each of the trash bins has plaques with Rho Omicron’s name inscribed as part of the donation. Trash bin locations include the sidewalk in front of Johnston-Hopkins Elementary and other areas with frequent pedestrian traffic.

“Hopefully it will help,” Manuel said. “I had to take trash out of the containers to put liners in so people are definitely using them.”

The foundation will be proceeding with additional community support work down the road. Manuel said the next project will be the demolition of a blighted mobile home on Ann Street that people regularly enter and trespass into.

Manuel said the project was made possible thanks to Rho Omicron Foundation, the Rho Omicron Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Centerpoint Energy, Edward Robinson with Robinson Welding, Mayor Freddie DeCourt, New Iberia City Councilman Marlon Lewis and New Iberia City Councilwoman Deedy Johnson-Reid.

Manuel said the next Rho Omicron project will center around demolishing a blighted mobile home on Ann Street that he said frequently gets trespassers and has unsafe conditions.