Families clean up Mingo Park for Great American Cleanup
Heather Mohr, gifted support teacher at Trinity Middle School, brought out four students and some of their parents to help pick up trash Saturday at Mingo Park.
Heather Mohr, gifted support teacher at Trinity Middle School, brought out four students and some of their parents to help pick up trash Saturday at Mingo Park. From left to right: Julie Elling, Rayne Elling, Rylee Elling, Sarah Campman, Rob Campman, Ava Campman and Jack Halulko.
FINLEYVILLE – How often are middle-schoolers excited to get up on a weekend morning to pick up trash?
About 15 kids and their parents helped pick up litter in Mingo Creek County Park Saturday morning as part of the nationwide Great American Cleanup.
Unfortunately, a light dusting of snow may have spooked some participants. Recreation program coordinator Sarah Sandin said about 40 people signed up ahead of time.
“It usually is a lot better when the weather cooperates. I think the snow scared some people away,” she said as fellow program coordinator Daniel Royal cooked up hot dogs for volunteers in the park office.
“It’s a nice thing to do,” Sandin said. “It works out great. Everybody seems to have a good time, and it helps us.”
Heather Mohr, gifted support teacher at Trinity Middle School, brought out four students and some of their parents as part of the Fairchild Challenge, an environmental education program offered by the Phipps Conservatory. This year’s program consisted of five challenges, the last of which contained a community service element. Mohr said she’s been bringing students to clean up Mingo Park for about four or five years.
Other challenges included making recipes with food that would normally be wasted, creating a project about pollinators, developing an empty lot in Pittsburgh with an eco-friendly design and a writing a poem about Pennsylvania.
Joining Mohr Saturday were seventh-graders Jack Halulko and sisters Rayne and Rylee Elling with mom Julie and sixth-grader Ava Campman and her parents, Rob and Sarah.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trinity seventh-grader Jack Halulko holds the fossil he found while picking up trash in Mingo Creek County Park Saturday.
Halulko was especially excited about the leaf fossil he found while picking up trash and thought he might come back to the park Sunday to look for more.
Students found lots of trash, including cans, bottles, a tire, a pizza box and more. Students said they learned not to litter. Mohr said it’s also important they learn the value of giving back to the community and was glad several parents joined their children, “especially since it was snowing.”
Rob Campman said the family visits Mingo Park fairly often and looked forward to giving back.
“There was one tire found. That was the highlight,” he joked. “It would have been nice if it was a little warmer.”
“It made it harder to find the trash under the snow,” added his wife.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Nicole Brooks helps her sons, Luca Hernandez, left, and Arlo Hernandez pick up litter at Mingo Park Saturday morning for the Great American Cleanup.
Nicole Brooks brought out her two young sons, Luca and Arlo, because she helped with a cleanup along the beach as a child. Brooks said the most exciting finds for her sons were a necklace and a pair of scissors.
Despite the wind and chilly temperatures, plenty of fishers and walkers were out Saturday during the event, which lasted from 10 a.m. to noon. The snow had mostly melted by afternoon, though the light dusting might have made it more difficult to spot the litter throughout the park. Volunteers spent around an hour searching for bottles, cans and other trash before lunch. Royal said scouts troops, classes, nonprofits and other organizations often participate in the event, as well as individuals.
There were more than 130,000 volunteers across the state that participated in the Great American Cleanup last year, resulting in over five million pounds of trash thrown away, 16,000 trees, shrubs and flowers planted and over 20,000 tires that were properly disposed of.
Greene County hosted 32 events last year. Over 1,000 volunteers helped in almost 100 events in Washington County in 2017.
The Great American Cleanup of PA runs from March 1 to May 31. Participating locations can be found by visiting gacofpa.org.