SAUGUS — Volunteers will give love to the parts of town that matter most to them during a spring cleanup on Saturday.
The cleanup, coordinated by the Department of Public Works’ Solid Waste Coordinator Lorna Cerbone, will focus on picking up trash and other litter along the town’s roads, in the parks, and other places the volunteers choose.
This year, School Committee chairwoman Jeannie Meredith will lend a hand and help get more high school students involved in volunteering. Meredith took a job working part-time with the town earlier this year. For the first few months, her efforts have been focused on assisting the DPW.
“I think this is especially important for teenagers because it teaches them to take care of the environment that they live in,” said Meredith. “If they have to spend a day cleaning up, it could prevent them from throwing trash out of the car window or littering in the future. I think that’s time well spent.”
Saugus’ Mini-Vinnies, a small volunteer group of teenagers, and a few others have already committed to attending the cleanup, she said.
Mini-Vinnies are teenagers through the St. Vincent de Paul Society who want to be involved with service-based volunteerism, without receiving any kind of incentive.
Other teen volunteers can log their cleanup hours for school credit.
For example, Saugus High School requires students complete 12 hours of community service each semester to graduate.
Volunteers will meet at Saugus High School’s upper parking lot at 9 a.m. Saturday and will break off into groups to tackle different areas. Meredith said she plans to visit Rumney Marsh because of her compassion for the animals that call it home.
“Everybody might have a different area that is important to them,” she said. “I’m going to take my boys to the Rumney Marsh area when the tide goes down and you can see all the trash. I think it’s important to see the impact the trash has on the community they live in. Someone else might say Bristow Street Park because that’s where they used to play a lot and that spot is important to them.”
Volunteers should bring their own gloves but trash bags will be provided.
