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By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer

HELENA – Members of the Helena community gathered outside on the chilly Saturday morning of Jan. 8 to take part in a special community clean up of Helena’s Joe Tucker Park.

The clean up was organized by Helena resident, Melissa Little, who said she decided to take action after seeing the accumulation of trash around the park on a regular basis.

“I walk there every day on my lunch break and after it rains the lake is full of trash,” Little said.  “And if the water is clear and still, I can see trash on the bottom. It just finally made me mad the day I saw an entire large tire in the water.”

The clean up started at 10 a.m., and several people showed up ready to collect as much trash as possible. Little provided trash bags, water and snacks to the volunteers and they spent a good part of the day picking up the various litter that had collected throughout the park.

Volunteers picked up as much trash as they could, with items ranging from fast food bags, discarded plastic and (as Little pointed out before) a used tire.

Little said the clean up went very well, and she would most definitely plan another clean up event in the future because “it was nice getting together with the community.”

“I appreciated the help that showed up,” Little said. “Even though there wasn’t a ton of trash on Saturday, we were able to pull out some large items and get everything clean.”

She added that even if they didn’t collect all of the trash on the first visit, every little bit helps the animals that live at the park and the community that shares it.

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