Trash into cash: Indianapolis 500 cleanup offers odd finds, fundraising opportunity

Containers, cardboard and cans (so, so many cans) cover the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – waves of waste as far as the eye can see left in the wake of the pandemonium of the previous day.

It’s the Monday after the Indianapolis 500, and it’s time to take care of the trash.

That task falls largely on groups of volunteers from schools, sports teams, churches and other organizations. The groups, which rally early each Memorial Day to clean the discarded items left each year by the more than 300,000 fans, often use the cleanup as a fundraising opportunity, a stipend from the IMS that helps fuel their programs.

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Among the racetrack regulars is the Southwood Junior-Senior High School athletic department, which sends its fall athletes to the Speedway. The football and volleyball players from the Wabash school arrived at 7 a.m. and were scattered throughout the stands on Turn 1.

Roger Boone, a 52-year-old Southwood guidance counselor, has aided in the cleaning efforts for the past three years. The extra cash is an extreme benefit to the athletic department, he said, with around $10,000 each year earned from the day.

As a volunteer with a few laps around the track under his belt, Boone is no stranger to an odd find in the litter left behind. He’s stumbled across wallets, cell phones, clothes with the tags still on and questionable snack choices.

“I don’t know why anyone would eat boiled eggs at a race,” he said, “but evidently, they did.”

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With no owner to explain or offer context (for the eggs and other relics), the trash tells a story on its own. Identical bottles and cans – a duo of Mountain Dews, a foursome of Fireball shooters, a collection of Coronas – nod to the camaraderie of race attendees.

Only exoskeletons remain, but these containers were once as full of liquid as the Speedway was full of life. Though the 2.5-mile track echoes with the clanging of cans now, it’s easy to imagine the sound of friends sipping on similar beverages and cheering on the speeding cars below.

While most contents are drained by the time the race ends, some fans leave their concession haul unopened. Full bags of kettle corn and Coke cans with the tab still sealed are commonplace − bought but quickly forgotten about as race action intensifies.

Smaller purchases aren’t the only ones that go to waste: Volunteer James Williams has discarded new tents, barbecue grills and full coolers from the stands, the Snake Pit and more in his four years on cleanup duty.

Williams, 30, is the vice president of the Indy Lions Youth Football Club, a program for kids ages 8-12. The funds from cleaning, he said, contribute to uniforms, equipment and tournament costs that parents would otherwise have to pay entirely out of pocket.

The grueling day’s payoff keeps the program accessible to Indy Lions players – many of whom, Williams said, are from lower-income families. With an opportunity to preserve the chance to play and update their equipment, the team is usually eager to help, Williams said.

“They like having new jerseys. They like having new equipment. They like being able to travel out of town,” Williams said. “It makes it easier for them to want to come out.”

The source of the funds and amount distributed to each organization is unclear, as IMS did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. But Williams estimates the program has raised a “couple thousand dollars” in each of its years participating.

The promise of funding entices volunteers to return each year, despite hours of work in the heat of late May. As each brigade plows through the ghosts of a good time had, they afford themselves the funds to keep running.

The mess piles for miles, but a can tossed is a dollar earned.

Contact Pulliam Fellow Heather Bushman at HBushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at hmb_1013.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500 cleanup offers fundraising opportunity