On March 30, 2019 I participated in a community service event hosted by Repair of Broken Walls Inc. Repair of Broken Walls Inc is a Non Profit organization that focuses on job readiness, mentoring and training for urban youth ages 16-24. R.O.B.W. plans to partner with construction businesses to revitalize blighted communities and employ urban youth. They also organize fundraisers, community-building clean up & beautification events, and in-depth training sessions for volunteers. My boyfriend’s mother, Charlette Adams is the founder of Repair of Broken Walls, so I chose this particular event because I wanted to support her and her upcoming business. Another reason I chose the event was to help clean up the park, while making it safe and more enjoyable for children and people of all ages.
We cleaned up trash and recyclables at Conant Park in Hillside NJ. One of the representatives of the parks and recreation department of union county was there to assist us as well. The park has a playground area, a stream, and woods attached to it. There were about 15 of us and we all split up to clean different sections of the park. I decided to be apart of the group that cleaned the stream and we were given swamp boots, gloves, and a picker upper to gather all of the garbage and recyclables. Other members of the event walked around the playground area or in the forest with garbage bags and bags for recycling. At one point of the event we covered up the graffiti on the bridge that connected the park to the forest and overlooked the stream. We gathered over fifteen bags of garbage and eight bags of bottles and cans. We were all pleased to see the difference in the parks appearance after we finished removing the trash.
It was a great feeling being able to help beautify the community and contribute to a cleaner environment. I strongly believe everyone should take time to volunteer every once in awhile. I like to volunteer at least once a year at different types of events. So far I’ve volunteered at a soup kitchen, a church clothing drive, a food drive, an animal shelter, and now cleaning up Conant Park. It makes me feel better about myself and it truly brings joy to my heart knowing that I’m making a difference in the community. Cleaning up that stream opened my eyes to the damage people do to our environment on a daily. There is an enormous amount of litter that pollutes our rivers, oceans, lakes, and streams all over the world. People don’t understand the severity of their actions and how it affects our planet. Just think, if a few people volunteered to clean their local community once a week, the impact it would have on the environment. Of course it needs to be awareness of the situation in order for people to fully grasp the consequences. Unfortunately it won’t happen overnight and all we can do is contribute when we can. By reducing waste, recycling, and volunteering more, we can all attempt to improve the environment as a whole. I had a great time cleaning Conant park that day and I look forward to working with R.O.B.W. in the upcoming years with more community service events.
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