Coming Together Makes Green Space Sparkle

Remnants of a skateboard. A book. A candle. A camera case. A shoe sole. Tennis balls. Endless cigarette butts, beer bottles and plastic wrappers. These are the items that litter the banks of the Platte River.

At least, until mid-afternoon on Veterans Day 2010.

On that cold snowy day, a group of more than 65 volunteers – one of them as young as age 7 – gathered together to clean up a historic section of Lower Downtown (LoDo) in Denver. Confluence Park, where the Platte River and the Cherry Creek come together, is a bustling neighborhood of 19th-century brick warehouses and storefronts that has been redeveloped since the late 1980s. In summer, it is a place where bikers, walkers, runners, kayakers, sunbathers and frisbee-throwers gather for a downtown outdoor experience.

It also is a place where trash and debris collect. The beauty of this location, and the abuse it suffers as a result of human activity throughout the seasons, compelled volunteers to come here for a community service project on November 11.

Volunteers prepare for trash pickup in the cold. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

The event kicked off with inspiring remarks from Robert Gordon III, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, an officer in the U.S. Army and a civilian-leader.

Deputy Undersecretary Robert Gordon. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

Mr. Gordon was visibly pleased to see the great number of young volunteers from the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a team-based residential program for men and women age 18-24. The NCCC’s mission is to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service. Mr. Gordon recounted his experience working for AmeriCorps, when he was part of a team that first conceptualized the formation of NCCC. He applauded the young volunteers for their hard work completing service projects throughout the country.

Coming Together

Mr. Gordon remarked on the significance of this project’s location in Confluence Park:

“A confluence is a coming together. Today, we are coming together as military service men and women, and civilians, to make a difference across the country. Young people, veterans, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, people who have been at war for nine years over multiple deployments. We are coming together for the good of a community.”

Volunteers pick up trash along the Platte River. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

He also addressed the importance of building trust in relationships. Trust, he said, “is necessary for the betterment of a community. Colorado is the number one most beautiful spot in the U.S. People need to keep it clean,” he said, emphasizing that clean environments don’t just happen on their own.

Finally, Mr. Gordon pointed to leadership as a key ingredient to strong, sustainable communities. “We are here today leading others to also be good leaders. With this leadership, we will keep the environment clean, and will teach our children and others to take ownership and responsibility.”

How Garbage Inspires

What inspired the volunteers to get out on the river, cleaning up trash, on a cold day?

'I like getting around in the community. It feels good to help people.' -- Ryan, from California, and a volunteer with NCCC. Ryan says he found lots of cigarette butts, candy wrappers and bottle tops. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)	'It's nice to get outside. We've found lots of interesting stuff on the banks of the river. I just found out my boots are waterproof.' -- Ian, based in Indiana, and a volunteer with NCCC. He showed us the huge bag of garbage he picked up, including parts of a skateboard, a book and a candle. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)	'People who walk around here will see that it's cleaner. They can enjoy the scenery rather than have to look at trash. Denver's a really clean city, it's nice to help keep it that way.' -- Joshawna, based in Arizona, and a volunteer with NCCC. Joshawna told us that NCCC's next project 'spike' is in Louisiana to help with Katrina clean-up. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)
'I bike around town a lot, and come down here to the river very often in the summertime. It's sad to see so much trash along the water. It's pretty here. I want to contribute to the area's upkeep. We've all got to serve in some way.' -- Aaron, a Denver resident and employee of the Colorado Dept. of Transportation. He found our event on a volunteer website and decided to pitch in during his day off. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)	'Someone's gotta do it. Nobody wants to look at a city full of trash. It's fun to imagine what people were doing here when they littered. Their thrown-away stuff gives us clues about their gatherings and what the scene was.' -- Mikael, from Philadelphia, and a volunteer with NCCC. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)	'Denver is beautiful already; this is an opportunity to make it more so. It's rewarding working with the vets here today, who have served our nation and are now doing it again in another capacity. This is a free, public space. We're cleaning up after people who chose not to keep it as clean as they should have.' -- Ben, from Little Rock, Arkansas, and a representative of Service Nation: Mission Serve. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)
'Proper care for the environment is a constant - so celebrating Veterans Day by helping to clean up a historic part of Denver didn't take much inspiration. Denver naturally has a beautiful landscape, and from a distance, the park looked great when I arrived. However, when we did dig down, we found a significant amount of litter. Thank you for the experience, I'll be back to volunteer again!' -- Elliot, a community volunteer in the Denver area, pictured far left. (Photo/Dana Shea-Reid)

Group portrait. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

Special thanks to the organizations that worked together to make this happen:

Service Nation: Mission Serve, Veterans Green Jobs, National Civilian Community Corps, Denver Parks & Rec, Governor’s Commission on Community Service, Greenway Foundation.