72 members of the San Antonio North Stake joined thousands of volunteers around the city this morning to help clean up the City’s waterways. City councilman John Courage had asked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide 50 volunteers to clean up the Salado Creek area at Walker Ranch Park. The project, posted on JustServe.org, brought families and individuals out on a brisk morning to don the yellow “Helping Hands” vests and to pick up trash.
What motivated some of the folks to get up early on a Saturday morning? Mary Candland, age 14, from the Los Lomas ward said “I love the earth, and I like cleaning it up.”
Adam Walker, from the Castle Hills ward said: “After living here for over a year, I decided it was time that I contributed to the San Antonio community. I’ve participated in trash pickup in other communities and I love looking at the visible difference we’ve made at the end of the project.” The visible difference was accomplished quickly at Walker Ranch Park with over 380 volunteers.
This is the 25th year for the Basura (Spanish for trash) Bash. The Salado Creek area at Walker Ranch Park was one of 19 waterways cleaned this morning. Last year during the Basura Bash, 27.55 tons of trash was picked up, along with 3,400 pounds of metal and 259 tires.
Volunteers filled up trash bags and then placed them on paved trails or roadways to be picked up by city crews.
Children were rewarded for their efforts with an early 2019 Fiesta medal with the Basura Bash motto: “Basura Bash Slashes Trash – Recycle”
For other service opportunities around San Antonio, check out those listed on JustServe.org.