NATCHEZ — Volunteers will converge on the bluff today to kick off a statewide cleanup day with the First Lady of Mississippi.

Keep Mississippi Beautiful, the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, will kick off the annual Great American Cleanup across the state today in Natchez.

The Great American Cleanup is the country’s largest community improvement program that starts in more than 20,000 communities each spring.

Keep Natchez-Adams County Beautiful submitted a proposal to host the cleanup kickoff this year and was chosen among the state’s 36 affiliate communities.

Volunteers will plant knock out roses at the toll booth colonnades on the bluff, as well as landscaping work at the Rotary welcome signs along U.S. 61 North and South and the overlook deck below the bluff.

A group of volunteers will also walk from the Forks of the Road to the bluff picking up litter along the way. For those who wish to pick up litter on their own, Keep Natchez-Adams County Beautiful will supply trash bags, which the group asks be returned to the bluff for a litter weigh-in at the end of the day.

First Lady of Mississippi Deborah Bryant will also join volunteers in the cleanup and landscaping efforts

The kickoff will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the gazebo bandstand on the bluff.

A picnic lunch sponsored by the Community Alliance will take place at approximately noon on the bluff.

Keep Mississippi Beautiful board chair Stephanie Hutchins said volunteers should dress comfortably as much of the day will involve walking. Volunteers participating in landscaping efforts are encouraged to bring their owns tools, but are not required.

Hutchins said the cleanup day offers residents an opportunity to join their neighbors in beautifying Natchez.

“It’s just a great way for us to be together and celebrate our 300th birthday,” she said.