When the streets are clean, parks well-kept, and public spaces are litter free, community residents and visitors feel more comfortable and safer in their surroundings.
There are many ways in which youth can help improve their communities by cleaning up the streets. Some ideas include organizing community cleanup events, picking up litter while walking around the neighborhood and encouraging others to properly dispose of trash.
In the City of Socorro, Mayor Ravi Bhasker is hoping local youth can work with local government to advocate for recycling and reducing the amount of litter in the community. It’s also an opportunity for youth to build bridges between them and residents.
And … the city is willing to pay youth organizations or clubs for their help and support.
Any youth group or organization, with participants ages 14 to 25, is invited to participate in two different opportunities: Youth Recycling Group or the Youth Group Clean-up.
The Youth Recycling Group will work with the city on the first Saturday of every month at the Old Sands Motel parking lot.
The group will be responsible for monitoring and sorting recyclables, including newspaper, aluminum cans and cardboard dropped off by the community. The city’s Waste Management department will provide a trailer for collection.
Each participating group will receive $100. The city will provide workers with gloves, hazard vests, trash collectors and receptables.
The Youth Group Clean-up group will help the city clean up various sites around Socorro. Each clean-up event will last for three hours, and the group will receive $300.
The city will determine the location each time, and will supply participants with gloves, hazard vests, trash collectors and trash bags.
Both opportunities will require adult representation if the group is under the age of 18. Each group must have three people per group and will be limited to three clean-ups per group. Finally, clubs or organizations wishing to sign up must be a part of an established group or organization.
Interested in having your club or organization help clean up the neighborhoods of Socorro, sign up by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
