by Rachel Hunter
The St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau on Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25 sponsored a 5K Trash Dash. Participants helped to clean trash from the side of county roadways in five locations – including Gouverneur on Saturday, April 24, starting at 9 a.m.
“Youth members, on our Advisory Board, were motived to increase county environmental awareness and decided to offer a trash dash on Global Youth Service Day during the weekend of April 24th and 25th. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring generations together and help clean up our county roads,” said Alexa Backus, St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau Director.
This event was also sponsored by Hershey’s Young Heroes and Youth Service America. Gouverneur High School Junior Cole Siebels, who also serves as the St. Lawrence County Youth Committee Chairman and is a Gouverneur High School National Honor Society Member, was recently awarded a $250 Hershey’s Young Heroes Grant for this initiative.
“We are excited to be conducting this initiative. Not only does this benefit our local environment, we also believe this is a great way to bring members of the community together for a really good cause. We hope to spread awareness about serious issues facing our county and expect to make a lasting positive impact,” said Cole Siebels, Hershey’s Youth Heroes grant recipient.
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) celebrates and mobilizes the millions of young people who improve their communities through service. GYSD is celebrated each April in more than 100 countries with young people working together to address the world’s most critical issues and help their communities thrive.
“Our country is witnessing a divisiveness not seen in generations,” said Steven A. Culbertson, CEO and president of YSA (Youth Service America), the leader of GYSD. “At YSA, we understand that youth service levels the playing field, providing productive spaces where young people can come together for the common good, and be contributors not spectators. We need youth in St. Lawrence County, New York to be leaders and problem solvers today, not just the leaders of a distant tomorrow.”
The St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau collaborated with the St. Lawrence County Weights and Measures and the St. Lawrence County Highway Department to make this initiative possible.
On Saturday, April 24, about 20 participants gathered in the parking lots at Gouverneur High School to join the 5K Trash Dash. With 16 members participating, the largest group in attendance was the GHS National Honor Society along with GHS National Honor Society Advisor Marcy Tyler. Looking at all those who decided to come out in support of the event, Siebels said the following: “I’m glad that we had a lot of people who were willing to come out, help the community, help protect the environment. This is a good-sized group to have. I am very pleased with the turnout.”
Each attendee throughout St. Lawrence County participating in the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau sponsored 5K Trash Dash was given a hard hat and safety vest (courtesy of the St. Lawrence County Highway Department), gloves (courtesy of the Police Activities League of Massena) and plastic bags once they joined the event. In Gouverneur, a short safety briefing was held in the GHS parking lot in advance of the clean-up efforts. All were encouraged not to pick up anything that looked suspicious (i.e. hypodermic needles, batteries, bottles with dark liquid inside), and that the item in question would be flagged for further investigation. The participants were urged to walk as far along the 5K route as they felt that they were able, before making the return trip to the GHS parking lot.
It took the participants over two hours to travel about two miles north of the Rock Island St. entrance to the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds, as they picked up trash and debris alongside both sides of County Route 11 in Gouverneur. More than seven large plastic bags were filled and left for pick-up by the St. Lawrence County Highway Department. All participants upon their return to the GHS parking lot received Hershey chocolate candy bars as a reward for all their hard work.
Siebels said there is great hope to make the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau sponsored 5K Trash Dash an annual event. “I hope that if we don’t continue it, which I believe we will, that other people would organize something similar to it. I hope that we can gain more participation as the years go on. I hope people see this, what we’re doing and will want to join in the future.”
Much gratitude was extended to all who made the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau’s 5K Trash Dash event possible.