“Working together to clean up the community made a difference.”

Last year, some people who were away at university or college came home and started speaking out about the conditions where we live. They were complaining about the garbage and stuff that just got dumped wherever. There’s insulation that got burned in a house fire and old tires and gross old furniture and regular garbage like pop cans and cardboard. Sometimes even gut piles from hunting or a dead dog. It’s so depressing to see the skinny dogs that we call crackies, with cuts and sores, running around here.

Anyway, these people talked to the council and they talked to the local radio, and they started hauling the junk away to the dump, using trucks and trailers. They did it for free and they didn’t seem to care that they were the ones picking it up.

It made a difference in our community to see it cleaned up a little. You felt happier to see just green and brown ground when you looked around. I don’t know if it will last but it was a good idea.

Some of my friends have been talking about those dogs and we want to see what we can do to help them, because we’re real animal lovers. Maybe we can get a vet to come in sometimes, or get some money for an animal shelter.

Seeing the garbage go to the dump where it belongs made me realize how changing your surroundings can make you feel better.