More than 80 people signed up for the first ever organized cleanup throughout Pearl River, and a few more people joined the event the day of when it took place on Saturday.
“There have been cleanups around Pearl River for several years, but they weren’t as heavily promoted,” said Keep Rockland Beautiful’s Gerry Collins, project coordinator for the event. “This year we tried to have everyone sign up together and go out on the same day to different locations.”
Those participating met at the Gazebo in Central Avenue Field and then split up. Collins told many areas they might want to go clean, such as Evans Park, Pilgrim Court and Pearl River High School.
They were participating in the Great American Cleanup, a national effort to improve communities throughout the country. Locally the event is sponsored by Keep Rockland Beautiful.
Carla Crowe and Ralph Fasano of the Pearl River Lions Club went to Evans Park because they heard it had a lot of litter. They were participating in the cleanup for the first time, and Crowe said she read about it on the St. Margaret Church bulletin.
Boy scouts from Pack 22 Den 5 cleaned up Evans Park Elementary School. While the troop has eight members, just three were there on Saturday, with many others having sports obligations. The ones who weren’t there might go another day to cleanup, though.
Plenty of other organizations will hold their own Great American Cleanup events in the next few weeks and are still looking for volunteers. For more information about the cleanup, including a schedule of when others are picking up garbage, click here.
