HARLINGEN — The irony wasn’t lost even on the very young.
Brandon De Los Reyes, 10, had just finished another round of trash pickup yesterday morning at McKelvey Park. He and other volunteers had come to participate in the Keep Harlingen Beautiful 2016 Litter Bash.
“We get to help out and just clean up all the trash that people leave,” he said. “It kind of sucks that they are littering, just throwing it down.” He nodded toward a tall blue bin. “There’s a trash can.”
That’s right. He and other members of Lee Means Elementary Student Council had been cleaning up the area right around the trash can.
This sort of conscientious awareness is exactly what Melissa Boykin, executive director of Keep Harlingen Beautiful, wants to see.
“The kids are going out and seeing the importance of keeping their community nice and tidy,” Boykin said.
She said about 500 volunteers had shown up at McKelvey Park and other locations around the city to clean up parks and main roads. The event keeps the parks and main roads clean and also relieves city workers so they can tend to other duties.
About 40 volunteers were moving in small groups around McKelvey Park.
“We’re just helping out the community,” said Melany Garcia, 15. She and two other members of Girl Scout Troop 75 steadily, methodically picked up litter and tossed it into a black plastic bag.
“In Girl Scouts, there’s a really big emphasis on helping out the community,” said Melany, a sophomore at the Harlingen School for Health Professions.
“We want to make a big improvement on the park,” Melany said.
Fellow Girl Scout member and HSHP student Savannah Fuentes, 13, was in quick agreement.
“I just feel like I want to help our environment and our community,” said Savannah. “It’s really good. We are bonding more.”
