Elkhart County 4-H Fair has ended and now it's time to clean-up

GOSHEN, Ind.- Work Release Programs are helping Elkhart County stay clean while also saving money. The Community Oriented Work Program will be cleaning up at the fairground Sunday morning.

According to the supervisor of the Community Oriented Work Program, or COWP for short, the inmates will be arriving around 9 a.m. and will stay until noon  in hopes of cleaning up the fairgrounds.

Natalie Mitchell, the supervisor of the program, tells me today isn’t the only day inmates are involved with the Elkhart County 4-H Fair.

Before the fair starts the individuals working through a program like COWP come and set up flower beds, water the plants throughout the fair and also help put up food booths.

Mitchell says it’s definitely beneficial for the city to have a program like this because the inmates up right help the city save money.

But also, on the other hand, the program benefits those that are part of it.

“In my opinion I think it helps them give back to society,” says Mitchell. “It gives them an opportunity to do something good; gives them volunteer hours as well so that they can get passes to go out on the weekends.”