Church volunteers give Central Avenue a second chance

For the Reporter

It’s easy to throw a candy wrapper out of the window while driving or drop a cigarette butt on the ground while waiting for the bus.

But cleaning these things up?

That takes a great deal of cooperation and work ethic. That is what The World Mission Society Church of God learned this past Sunday.

The Church of God held the 2,470th environmental cleanup campaign of its 50-year-old organization. It was the SeaTac church’s seventh cleanup and the second it has held in Kent. The first cleanup was similar to Sunday’s in that it took place along Central Avenue from James Street to 259th Street.

Volunteers gathered at noon in the parking lot of Mill Creek Middle School, armed with a detailed understanding of Central Avenue’s most neglected areas and ready to take the city by storm.

Fifty-two volunteers, separated into four teams, operated a leapfrog formation up and down Central Avenue, finishing the project promptly at 4 p.m. The church even provided its own dump truck for immediate disposal of the 38 bags of trash collected, as well as two bags of recyclable plastic. This, volunteers said, was the best way to provide the most relief, even to city employees who had been overwhelmed trying to dispose of the large number of trash bags collected during the first cleanup.

Regarding the reprisal of the cleanup campaign, one church representative said, “Doing the same cleanup again allowed us to really take into consideration situations that we were surprised by the first time. Since we had time to understand what was most needed by the community, we were able to offer help in a way that was customized to best and most effectively service the people of Kent.”

Of course, it also helped that a few of those community members decided to join along the way. Hearing that the SeaTac church’s purpose in holding this event was to “continuously share Mother’s love with their neighbors,” a Kent woman and her adult grandson donned the yellow Church of God vests and jumped right in. As environmental activists, the two remarked that they had a lovely time making acquaintance with the church through this event.

For those who would like to participate in a cleanup activity but missed it this time, the Church of God in SeaTac said this is just a prelude to a weeklong volunteer project it is planning for the end of July. Those interested can contact Deborah Kwon at 206-465-0255.