On Friday, September 18, I spent a few hours with Washington Parks and People. WP&P is a DC-based non-profit organization dedicated to...parks and people. Together with about ten classmates (a poor conversion), I rode the Blue Line further east than I ever had, to Capital Heights. I was tasked with navigating from the metro station to the RiverSide Center, the WP&P homebase, where we'd be receiving our directions for the day. As I rode the long escalator up from the metro's depths, I admittedly had no idea what to expect when I surfaced. It could be corn fields, it could be inner-city; I could be coming up in a different city. Naturally, this area of SE DC takes the appearance of much of the rest of the city's periphery--a little aged, a little rundown and overgrown, but still ripe with character.
We walked the nine blocks through Marvin Gaye Park (labelled with a hand painted sign) and were met by some helpful workers at the RiverSide center, where we received the very generic legal rundown and very unique history of the project. We learned that over 18,000 needles had been removed from the park. As a cynic, I had to wonder if the decimal point was misplaced.
We also learned that the center in which we were sitting in a circle (closely resembling a dance studio), was originally a night club. It was, in fact, THE night club in which Marvin Gaye had gotten his start as a performer and where he was eventually discovered. As a avid music fan, this fact blew me away. I was at an historic landmark that most of the city, and the country, has overlooked. It falls short of Graceland and Abbey Road but music lovers deserve to know about this place and it should be marked with a plaque at the very least.
Like many service projects, we were put to work moving brush from point A to point B. We cut piled branches into more manageable sizes and after the first hour we were struggling to find viable tasks. We returned to the center and collected trash bags and galoshes to go clean up the stream.
What we found is that picking up trash is one of the easiest and most significant ways to make a noticeable difference in a park, on the street... or in one's apartment. In addition to imagining the countless tales that likely surround the bizarre items we collected, one can see a marked difference between when we arrived and when we returned home.
It occurred to me that this type of service does not require organization or guidance. Individuals often sit around with a desire to help, and they just don't know how. Here's how: Pick up trash. We all have bags, we all live in areas that deserve to be cleaned up. Take an hour, take an afternoon, take a friend and go pick up trash. Laugh about the bizarre items you find, recycle the alcohol bottles you'll inevitably find and know that you've made a difference.
Today's title is a quote from Marvin Gaye.
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