Get Swept Up! is a volunteer event that prepares the city for the influx of visitors who come to watch Mississippi State University football and tailgate in the Junction.
2022 marks the 19th year of the Starkville community gathering together to clean up the city.
This year, the first football game will be on Saturday, Sept. 3 against the University of Memphis. Before the game, volunteers will tidy campus 7:30 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Greater Starkville Development Partnership hosts the event with help from sponsorships from several local businesses. 
Hunter Harrington, director of membership for Starkville Development Partnership, discussed the excitement surrounding the clean up.
“It has been one of those staples in the community. It is really fun to watch everyone around here come and get out and just get excited about football and just having a bunch of visitors,” Harrington said. 
Harrington said she is proud to help clean the city. 
The morning of the event, Chick-fil-A is providing breakfast for all volunteers before everyone gets to work. 
In the past, over 580 people have signed up to pick up trash, including representatives of over 50 businesses, organizations and families. 
Volunteers receive a free “Get Swept Up!” T-shirt and supplies to pick up trash, such as gloves, trash bags and bottled water. 
A leader for each team of volunteers picks up their supplies and receives instructions before getting to work on their assigned street.
Teams are expected to pick up trash on the street and surrounding areas. Additionally, they are encouraged to pull weeds, trim shrubbery and mow yards.
In 2021, more than 100 bags of trash were picked up from the streets around Starkville, according to the Get Swept Up! website.
The event has grown significantly since its beginning and is expected to be bigger than ever this year, Harrington said.
However, despite the event being dedicated to preparing for football season, MSU students do not make up a large number of the volunteers.
According to Harrington, most student volunteers are local students from the Starkville area who have already been exposed to the event.
“Students from out of town are just moving back in, and school is just starting back, but we would love for more to get involved and help us clean up Starkville,” Harrington said.
Rachel Morrison, junior majoring in agronomy, expressed her interest in the event.
“It sounds really cool. Especially with everyone getting back and all of their families coming to visit,” Morrison said.
Despite attending MSU for multiple years, Morrison said she had not discovered Get Swept Up! until recently.
“I had never heard of it, but I wish I had,” Morrison said.
Lynn Berch, manager of Montgomery B&B in West Point, said the event leaves a positive impact on the community.
“I think it just helps Starkville in general, cleaning up the city, and it has an effect on people, when they come here,” Berch said.
Berch said a clean Starkville would correlate to more business.
“Starkville being clean makes a difference in everything. If Starkville is clean, more people will come to Starkville, and then stay at the B and B. It’s a chain reaction,” Berch said.
Berch said the clean-up could be an opportunity for people to meet their neighbors.
“A lot of people get involved, and everything gets cleaned up. It’s a community event, so everyone gets involved,” Berch said.
While registration has officially closed, it is still possible to get involved. For more information, email Paige Watson at [email protected] for late registration.