Nonprofit seeking volunteers for spring cleanup
This month ushers in spring clean-up. Residents across the metro are busy weeding flower beds, pruning rose and summer-blooming bushes, raking leaves, picking up trash and replacing burned-out porch and patio lightbulbs. Spring cleanup isn’t a luxury that everyone can take for granted. For a small population, it’s difficult, if not impossible, but help is on the way. The Whole Person nonprofit center for independent living is recruiting volunteers to weed, prune, rake and more for area homeowners and renters limited by disability or advanced age.
“Our goal is 300 volunteers, and if we have more, we could do more homes,” says Terri Goddard, TWP’s manager of resource development and community outreach. “We have 30 yards to clean up, and there are nine on the waiting list.”
At 8 a.m. on April 21, rain or shine, teams of volunteers will assemble at their assigned destinations and tackle routine yard maintenance. They’ll spend an average of three hours completing planned clean-up, typically finishing before lunchtime.
TWP equips the teams with kits containing drinking water, snacks, twine, bags and other appropriate supplies. Volunteers are invited to bring gardening gloves and tools marked as their own – rakes, shearers, pruners, weed-eaters, edgers, wheelbarrows -- if available. For volunteers who don’t have their own, TWP will supply gardening tools.
“We’re trying to build our own toolshed because we have a lot of student volunteers and young people who don’t have their own tools,” Goddard says.
Individual volunteers, scouting and other youth groups, families and businesses interested in providing employee teams of volunteers are encouraged to sign up for TWP’s spring “Plant Independence – One Yard at a Time” event. The only requirement: physical ability. Volunteers are asked to sign up by April 9 by contacting Kelly Grooms at 816-627-2232 or kgrooms@thewholeperson.org.
There are no age restrictions. Past biannual cleanups have had volunteers as young as 7 accompanied by an adult.
“We welcome all ages -- anybody who’s able,” Goddard says. “We would welcome bilingual volunteers, too. It’s part of our strategic initiative to serve more non-English-speaking people with a disability. We know there are people out there who could use our help so we’re looking for ways to make more people aware of The Whole Person.”
Now in its third year, this is TWP’s fifth Plant Independence event. The yard cleanups held each spring and fall have helped over 100 people with a range of disabilities, such as spinal cord injury, blindness, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury or advanced age. Most are among the 2,000-plus people TWP serves every year, but a few are referred by an independent living advocate or apply online for yard cleanup.
“We generally fill up with requests pretty quickly,” Goddard says.
People on the wait list go to the top of the list for the next clean-up, she says.
The spring cleanup is supported by Westlake Ace Hardware. Volunteers receive a t-shirt, and TWP is adding gardening tools and supplies to its toolshed.
Individuals and groups interested in participating in the spring cleanup can find additional information on TWP’s Website, www.thewholeperson.org.
“It’s a really feel-good activity,” says Kelly Grooms, TWP volunteer program specialist. “A couple hours out of a weekend, a pretty neat bonding experience. I’ve heard over and over what a wonderful experience it is for the people we’re helping and for our volunteers.”
