{"id":186652,"date":"2026-05-07T23:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/186652\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T23:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:04:09","slug":"caily-grube-is-creating-lasting-impact-beyond-litter-cleanup-at-allegheny-cleanways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/186652\/","title":{"rendered":"Caily Grube is creating lasting impact \u2014 beyond litter cleanup \u2014 at Allegheny CleanWays"},"content":{"rendered":"

For over 25 years now, Etna-based Allegheny CleanWays has been working to combat illegal dumping and litter in the Pittsburgh region. The nonprofit\u2019s work is twofold \u2014 it helps convene and organize community cleanup events on both land and in our region\u2019s rivers, and it conducts educational outreach, research and advocacy to help residents feel empowered to take pride in their communities and shared spaces and adopt anti-litter habits. Since 2023, Caily Grube has led Allegheny CleanWays\u2019 efforts, bringing with her a decade of nonprofit leadership experience. Over the past year especially, the organization has seen its efforts ramp up<\/a> with a coordinated cleanup campaign ahead of the city hosting the 2026 NFL Draft in April. That included raising around $1 million from supporters, organizing cleanup events throughout the city, cleaning up hundreds of tons of litter and receiving funding to ensure that 50 miles of highway leading into and out of downtown will receive regular litter maintenance for the next two years. <\/p>\n

Tell me about your career journey so far and how you got into this line of work.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a straight line. I started as a writer and a poet. I was really focused on making that my career, and I was writing and publishing and reading. My path shifted, but what I think poetry and writing helped train me to do was to pay close attention to language and people and what might not be said and what does get said, and who gets to say it. And then my master\u2019s in social work helped deepen that instinct. At the core of social work for me is the belief in collective action, and that really drives what I want to be doing professionally. I really believe that when people organize together around shared spaces or shared stakes, we can build a community that we all want to live in.<\/p>\n

Click here to read more from our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times.<\/a><\/p>\n

Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n