The Ichetucknee Yoga Club and Nature Retreat hosted a highway cleanup along U.S. Highway 27 and Southwest Junction Road in Columbia County on Saturday, marking the beginning of a two-year commitment to keep local roadways clean.
The cleanup is part of Florida’s “Adopt-a-Highway” program, which allows volunteer groups to maintain designated stretches of the roadway. The program aims to reduce roadside litter while encouragin community involvement in environmental stewardship.
Club leader Michael Delaney said the group recently secured a contract that allows members to conduct quarterly cleanups along a two-mile stretch of the highway.
“The Ichetucknee Yoga Club and Nature Retreat is a fourth generation family-owned property,” Delaney said. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, so as long as they let me I am going to continue adopting the highway on behalf of the yoga club.”
Delaney, who is from the Bradford area, said he was inspired to make an impact in his community. After graduating from the University of Florida in 2024 with a bachelor's degree in psychology, he began exploring ways to connect his academic interests with community impact.
After graduation, Delaney said he started taking graduate-level courses focused on the relationship between nature and human well-being.
“I started studying the trees and forest and the chemicals produced by nature,” Delaney said. “How they interact with our mind, brain, and emotions with our physical body.”
While the club’s primary focus is yoga and wellness, Delaney emphasized that service is a key part of its mission. He said the cleanup reflects a broader philosophy rooted in yoga traditions.
“In yoga philosophy, there’s this idea of Karma Yoga: selfless action,” Delaney said.
“You do the work because it needs to be done. So for us, this cleanup isn’t separate from yoga… it is the practice. Just showing up, taking care of the land, and offering something back to the planet.”
Volunteers spent several hours walking along the roadside, collecting litter and debris.
The litter ranged from plastic bottles and food packaging to other discarded waste found along highways. Though the group knows litter will return over time, Delaney said the long-term commitment is what matters.
Columbia County, located in North Florida just northwest of Gainesville, is home to a network of springs and waterways that are closely tied to the Floridan aquifer.
The club itself is located on U.S. 27, about three miles from the Ichetucknee State Park south entrance. The property has an eight-acre lake connected to the Floridan aquifer, fed by underground springs.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that pollution from many miles away can travel through that aquifer, affecting the water quality of our lake, the springs, and even our neighbors’ drinking water,” Delaney said. “So what we’re doing out here is helping protect our precious Floridan aquifer.”
For members like Pamela Rahberg, the cleanup is also a way to stay connected to the community. Rahberg, who grew up in the Bradford area, said caring for the environment is something that feels personal.
“Growing up in the community, you want to take care of the surrounding areas and keep it beautiful for those who come in and are new,” Rahberg said.
She said she joined the yoga club in part because of its accessibility and shared values.
“I have a very busy working schedule and they’re available on the weekends,” Rahberg said. “I wanted to join a community that enjoyed being out in nature and the peace of it.”
It is good for everyone to get out and come together in the community, Rahberg said. If we take care of it, it will take care of us.
Community-led efforts like the Ichetucknee Yoga Club’s cleanup play an important role in maintaining rural roadways, where resources for litter removal may be more limited than in larger cities.