WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT I PICKED UP TONIGHT!!!

 

I was so excited to pick up trash tonight, so I went out even though it was snowing.  

It was pretty miserable.  It's hard to pick up litter when you can't see it, but I really wanted to continue cleaning Wilbeth Road.

I knew from driving by that the intersection of Wilbeth & Virginia was really awful, but I didn't know all of Wilbeth was so bad.  Ick!

I got it all cleaned up, but . . .

There was so much that I filled my trash bag.  I found something that looked like an ottoman of some kind.  I had to carry that along with me.

Wet trash is very heavy, not to mention furniture!  

I had to turn around and walk back to the dumpster and empty my bag.  I wouldn't have room for the trash at Wilbeth & Virginia if I didn't have a fresh bag.

So I finally made it to the Wilbeth & Virginia intersection.

It was hard to see what I was picking up, but I got what I could and continued south on Virginia.

AND I FOUND THIS THING!

It looked like some kind of bench.  It was about 6 feet long with a cloth cover, wooden frame . . . and it was VERY HEAVY!

I thought about leaving it.  I could call the City of Akron to come pick it up, but I just couldn't leave it there without trying to clean it up.

It looked like a car ran off the road to avoid running over it, making a big muddy mess.

I busted it up as much as I could and stuffed it in my trash bag, and that was it for me.  My trash cart was so heavy, it was hard to pull.  I was about a half mile from my car, but I got it done.

I only picked up 870 pieces of trash tonight, but I gave it my best shot.

I sent an email to the Akron Mayor, my Councilman and the woman in charge of the Firestone Park Community Center and asked for help.  I told myself if nobody responds, I will focus on communities that truly care, like Wadsworth and Barberton.  Trying to keep Firestone Park clean by myself is too hard.

I have picked up 844,536 pieces so far, and I need to pick up 155,464 more pieces to reach my one-million-piece goal.  If I want to do that by the end of April, I need to pick up 3,000 pieces a day.   

Can I do that?  Not if the weather doesn't cooperate.

I found what I thought was a dollar in the mud.

It was a dollar, and it rinsed off okay.  Not much you can buy with a dollar, but it's always fun to find money.

I want help with two things:  

-- Creating a Street Leader Program.

-- Providing trash carts for volunteers so picking up trash is easier for them.

The woman who runs the Firestone Park Recreation Center replied to my email and said, "Count me in!"   

 

Watch great things start to happen when I get closer to reaching my one-million-piece goal!