Zoinks! Youth volunteers recognized by national service campaign
A group of youth volunteers from the Richmond Highway area has been recognized as part of a national service campaign for their work cleaning up Little Hunting Creek.
The Stony Brook Jr. Volunteers, comprised of kids who live in the Stony Brook Apartments on Buckman Road, were the first group to be featured in a spotlight video for the Scooby-Doo DooGood campaign. The DooGood campaign, created around the longtime cartoon about mystery-solving youngsters referred to as “meddling kids” by the adult villains on the show, is focused on environmentalism. Various “doo gooders” from around the country who are making positive changes in their communities will be featured throughout the campaign.
The Stony Brook Jr. Volunteers are already well-practiced in cleaning up messes largely made by adults. They’ve been pulling trash from Little Hunting Creek between Richmond Highway and Janna Lee Avenue for more than three years. Since 2012, 175 Stony Brook volunteers have served more than 7,500 hours in the community, and 17 have earned a combined 31 Presidential Volunteer Service Awards, according to Ryan Barton, manager of Community Impact Strategies, the group that coordinates the Stony Brook cleanups.
The volunteers — who attend Mount Vernon Woods Elementary, Walt Whitman Middle School and Mount Vernon High School — spent a day over their spring break cleaning up the creek, which is consistently one of the most polluted in the area. The video above, which has been posted to the WBKids YouTube channel, highlights that day’s efforts. The 42 adults and 13 youth volunteers filled 70 bags full of litter, and removed larger items including a bike, a tire and a high chair.
Barton said the national recognition was a testament to the continued efforts of the young volunteers, and their dedication to improving the community they live in.
“We have youth who have been engaged in service here for more than six years now, and they’ve been the main driver of positive change in this community,” Barton said. “I’m thrilled for them, because it is a concrete demonstration of the power of youth in service, and what they can accomplish.”
You can learn more about the Doo Good program at DooGood.ScoobyDoo.com.
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