NIA Adopt-A-Highway
Northern Indiana Atheists (NIA) has adopted a two-mile stretch of State Road 23 in Granger between Capital Avenue and Adams Road. INDOT’s Adopt-a-Highway program allows community groups to volunteer to pick up trash and litter on two-mile segments of highways across the state. NIA volunteered for the program because we believe that all people should strive to make the world a better, and cleaner, place to live.
Our Adopt-A-Highway is completely membership-ran. The committee is headed by a member and they take care of all the details. We have the best members!
People wishing to volunteer for future clean-ups with NIA can fill out a volunteer application at www.northernindianaatheists.com.
Northern Indiana Atheists is a 501c3 organization established to fight state/church violations on a local level and defend the rights of atheists across Northern Indiana. Membership is open to atheists and our allies who share our vision for a government that represents all citizens equally, our passion for serving our community, and our enjoyment of educating people on what it means to be an atheist in Northern Indiana. Your membership and donations amplify our voice and makes our impact even stronger. Become a member today at NorthernIndianaAtheists.com.
Instant Community Feedback
We set up one of our large NIA logo signs in the parking lot on the morning of our Adopt-A-Highway to direct people to where we were stationed to start cleaning. While waiting there we enjoyed the puzzled looks and double-takes people did when they saw our sign as they entered the shopping center and left McDonald’s. A man driving a large brown SUV pulled out of McDonald’s, looked over at our sign, paused, proceeded to pull out, stopped, looked at our sign longer, then left. I wish we knew what was going through his head.
Five minutes later, that same SUV pulled up right beside us. He said hello and asked if we had a convention today? I said no, but that we had adopted the stretch of highway we were on and we were just getting ready to get started and he was welcome to join us. He answered something that we hear a lot, “I’m not an atheist.” I explained that NIA has religious members and a lot of religious allies in the community who appreciate the work we’re doing and want to help. He went on to explain that he was a follower of Jesus and said he knew that religion causes a lot of problems. He concluded by thanking us for what we were doing and handed us a $20 bill to help buy us breakfast.