On Monday, January 20th, Student Conservation Association (SCA), in sponsorship with American Express and Southwest Airlines, teamed up with National Park Service (NPS) to serve at Anacostia National Park. In honor of MLK Jr. Day, over 150 community volunteers came out to help remove litter from the park shoreline and lands. In total, volunteers cleared nearly 16 acres of park land, more than 1,100 feet of shoreline, and accumulated over 150 trash bags.
The morning started off with music playing and sunny skies. Volunteers fueled up for their service with some morning snacks from La Prima Catering and listened to a few opening remarks. Guided by SCA alumni leaders, volunteer groups, including members from GoodProjects and Center for Strategic and International Studies, were then divided and marched out to their project sites. Working hard to gather as much litter as possible, participants ventured in and under brush finding plastic bottles, grocery bags, cell phones, bottle caps, and much more.
In addition, a group of Americorps NCCC helped clear out overgrown brush from 180 feet of trail connecting Anacostia Park to Anacostia High School. In cutting back the overgrowth, NCCC helped to make the trail a more open and safe path for the community.
At the end of the day, volunteers gathered back at the kickoff location for closing remarks. All in all, the participants collected an impressive 155 bags of trash, helping to make Anacostia Park a safer and cleaner space for the community. Their efforts also reduced waste that accumulates in the Anacostia River Watershed, creating a cleaner habitat for sensitive aquatic life.
Special thanks to National Park Service for their partnership and to American Express and Southwest Airlines for supporting SCA.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram through @the_sca and on Facebook through @studentconservationassociation to learn more and for project updates.
