REALTOR® Community Involvement Spotlight: Jennifer Richardson
For over 30 years Jennifer Richardson has been serving the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area as REALTOR®. What began as a career to support her family as a single mother has blossomed and evolved into real estate investment and rental property ownership. However, Richardson’s service in the Baton Rouge area goes far beyond her knowledge and expertise in handling real estate transactions for her clients. In January of 2021, she began the litter cleanup initiative known as Keep Tiger Town Beautiful.
With litter along the roadways and greenspaces across Baton Rouge being such an issue, Jennifer decided to something about it by posting on NextDoor and Facebook. With the troops rallied their initial cleanup meeting resulted in 41 contractor bags filled with trash after only three hours of cleaning. The before and after pics taken to show their progress went viral.
“We had people from every walk of life, and we just loved each other. We couldn’t believe what ordinary people were able to accomplish, especially during COVID,” remarked Richardson. With her goal of making people aware of Baton Rouge’s litter problem, Keep Tiger Town Beautiful continues to meet every Saturday in addition to “pop-up” meetings when necessary after a new litter explosion.
With homemade baked goods and live music, the task of picking up trash becomes a lot more enjoyable than it sounds. “I never dreamed in a million years that I would be picking up litter and loving it.” The group averages between 15 and 25 volunteers each week. “The people who come out are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Who else would wake up on a Saturday morning when they could lounge around and pick up other people’s litter? All with a smile on their face,” says Richardson. “I know everybody’s name in my group. They are like my family.”
Keep Tiger Town Beautiful has also gotten the attention of local government. After seeing the results that Jennifer’s group was generating, the city-parish had two cleanups, and even Mayor Broome joined in. “I didn’t want to wait on a study or survey or a group of people to analyze something. All it takes is a garbage bag, a trash grabber, and some muscle.” The major issue with litter is that every time someone throws trash on the ground it ends up in storm drains, clogging them and making flooding events even worse.
Did you know that there are 30 acres of garbage behind the Burden Center? “I cried when I looked at it in person. I couldn’t believe that the most beautiful property in our city has the most nightmarish situation going on,” says Jennifer. What sets Keep Tiger Town Beautiful apart is that they meet every week. Right now, their biggest challenge is getting the word out. You can learn more from their Facebook group where they post photos every week.
Here are few litter statistics that may also get your attention.
- You eat a credit card’s worth of plastic every week.
- It takes Styrofoam 500 years to decompose.
- The U.S. used to send 60% of its trash to China, where it has since ended up in our oceans.
Based on her dedication to keeping the Capital City’s community clean in addition to the stellar performance she offers her clients, Jennifer was nominated not once, but twice to be featured in our REALTOR® Spotlight Series by her peers and colleagues. Based on her time and financial commitment Jennifer has shown her community how giving she is. “She is a great human being that gives to the needs of others without question. She goes above and beyond and does what others won’t,” says Alissa Jenkins. Helen Field continues, “She definitely dedicates plenty of her time to cleaning up our city. She also purchases the supplies for all volunteers! She’s successfully reached out to local news stations to recruit volunteers and also shed light on the litter problem. She has truly made a difference in our community.”
Jennifer bought her first home when she was 19 years old. “Being a REALTOR® is about making a change in your community. We aren’t only there to promote real estate, but to make a difference.” Jennifer has taken her responsibility as REALTOR® to the next level. She has moved beyond the lines of business that help her clients buy and sell homes, to making a significant and lasting impact on her community as a whole.
