RCSD recruits Palmetto Prep football team for homeless camp cleanup

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — A rise in crime in the area around Forest Drive led to the sheriff’s department destroying a homeless camp after removing the occupants.

After trees were cleared on Friday to make the area less hidden from sight, cleanup of the trash began.

“Our aircraft flies and identifies them,” said Sheriff Leon Lott of Richland County. “Citizens are calling after last Friday saying ‘Hey, there’s a homeless camp over here.’ We’re getting a lot of support getting them identified. Let’s get them torn down and cleaned up.”

After being bulldozed and cleared on Friday, the area looks much better. Cleanup continued Wednesday morning. The sheriff’s department also got some help from the Palmetto Prep football team.

“We talk about young people a lot when they make mistakes. These are young men who have not stumbled and fallen, they have stood up tall,” Lott said. “They’re out here today working hard and getting bit by mosquitoes. It’s hot and dirty but they’re out here with a smile on their face because they’re doing something good for their community.”

“I’ve never been out to a homeless camp before. I’m very thankful for that but it’s opened my eyes. It’s certainly opening theirs as well,” said Wes Dorton, Palmetto Prep athletic director. “They come out and sweat and get eaten by mosquitoes together. They realize what they’re doing is much bigger than them.”

“When he told us we had to get up at 8 in the morning, I don’t think anybody was ready to come out here,” said Palmetto Prep football player Prince Elliott. “We’re out here having a good time, bonding as a team and building fellowship.”

“I don’t even know the amount of bags we threw in the trash,” said football player Craig Joyner. “It was a lot though.”

Sheriff Lott says more homeless camps have been identified in Richland County and the department hopes to remove those as well.

“It’s not us against them. It’s us trying to get them help,” the sheriff said. “They’re not going to find it here in the woods with 10,000 beer cans, needles used to shoot up drugs and children being exposed to it.”

“This is what they’ve had to go through. I feel like they need more help,” Joyner said. “They need a better place to stay so they don’t have to stay in the woods.”

Lott says the community can help out with homeless camp cleanups and his department also plans to use the Palmetto Prep football team for other community service projects.