Some people adopt children. Others adopt pets. The Upstate Medical University Chapter of UUP has adopted a highway.

Well, a one-mile stretch of it at least.

A little over five years ago, the Upstate Chapter executive board discussed how they could give back to the community—in ways beyond their day-to-day duties as professionals in an academic medical center.

Following the recommendation of a former chapter president, the board decided to adopt a stretch of highway along I-481 near Rock Cut Road in Syracuse.

At least twice a year between April and October, the “I-481 Clean Up Krewe” takes to the street to bag trash that collects along their adopted highway. When the weather cooperates, the team cleans up more often. On average, eight UUPers lend a hand to each cleanup effort.

UMU Chapter delegate Brian Tappen was among the first to get involved. He wanted to get outside and get his hands dirty, and adopting a highway seemed the perfect fit.

“For me personally, it was a combination of things,” said Tappen, a statewide Executive Board member. “I believe in community service, and I wanted to work outside after a long night shift at the hospital.”

Fellow UUPer Dawn Leadley believes being part of the I-481 Clean Up Krewe is a win-win situation.

“Volunteerism provides rewards not only to individuals and communities, but to teams,” she said. “There is a unique bond that occurs when three or more people, covered with sweat and mud in the 90-degree sun, negotiate the best way to haul out discarded tires from a roadside ditch filled with ankle-deep water.”

The Adopt-A-Highway program is run by the state Department of Transportation (DOT), which turned to volunteers in the 1980s when state budget cuts meant fewer resources for roadside beautification. In exchange for its help, the volunteer organization gets its name on a blue road sign announcing it as an Adopt-A-Highway sponsor.

DOT provides trash bags, safety helmets and orange safety vests. Over the years, Tappen has added road safety cones to the collection, as well as more than two dozen “trash pickers”—thin wooden sticks screwed together to form a kind of tong—that he built and stenciled with “United University Professions” on one side and “Upstate Medical University” on the other, left. The safety equipment is housed at the chapter office.

The most recent clean-up effort was June 19, and included UMU Chapter President Carol Braund, Bob Fluck, Leadley, Paul Stasior and Tappen. Members from other chapters are invited to join the clean-up effort.

“I am acutely aware of how lucky I am to be a state employee and do not, for a moment, take that for granted,” Leadley said. “I appreciate that my employment is funded by taxpayers. Volunteering makes me feel like I am, in a way, giving back to those that allow me such wonderful professional and union-related opportunities.”

— Karen L. Mattison