Dillard Academy students, staff help clean up neighborhood
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 13, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/JOEY PITCHFORD
Jakeem Hines, 10, picks up litter along Elm Street as part of the Community Cleanup Kids Day held by Dillard Academy and local business owners.
Hundreds of children from Dillard Academy joined academy staff and local business owners to clean up their community April 9 during "Community Cleanup Kids Day."
The event began at H.V. Brown Park. From there, the crowd of more than 200 kids moved down Elm Street, each carrying a trash bag, and picked up any trash they could find. After moving off to clean in the residential community, the children came back down the other side of Elm Street and back to the park, where they were greeted with food and inflatable equipment to play on.
Bobby Harvey, who owns Harvey Moving Co. in Goldsboro, was also part of the cleanup. He said that helping the community was simply not negotiable.
"There's no way you can do business in a community you won't be active in." Harvey said. "Getting immersed in the community is better than any tax deductible you can get."
Sean McIntyre, who owns McIntyre Transport, gave a similar perspective.
"When they reached out to me, I was ready to go." he said.
Thomas Smith, who helped organize the event with Dillard, said that the event helped show kids that they have control over the fate of their home.
"It does a lot for kids this age," he said. "It gives them pride, a sense of ownership and responsibility for their community."
For their part, the kids were excited to make a difference. They darted around to find trash like treasure hunters, shouting excitedly after finding some new spot to clean up. When Harvey asked them why they were here, he was met with a chorus of variations on "to help our community!"
Harvey said that the structure of the event was meant to teach a lesson as well.
"When they reach the end, they get to play and eat. They learn that if they work hard, they can get what they want."
Smith said the sense of responsibility was the real message behind the work being done.
"We need to teach people to help themselves. We're going to fix it ourselves, we're not going to wait around for somebody else to do it for us."