On Saturday, April 13, residents rolled up their sleeves for the 20th annual Burlington Township Cleanup Day.
That morning, volunteers were assigned to spots throughout the township that were in dire need of some upkeep. Work continued until around noon when everyone met back at Green Acres Park for refreshments and a post-cleanup celebration.
Recreation Director Diane Flannery is largely responsible for pulling the cleanup event together. In addition to getting the word out to residents, she solicited a number of sponsorships from local businesses that donated gift cards that were awarded to participants through a drawing at the end of the day. A local Home Depot even donated a grill.
For Flannery, Cleanup Day is more than just a way to get the community together, she sees a particular need in the township fulfilled when residents pitch in and work together.
“Number one, it’s necessary. I mean if you ride around certain areas you can see that the debris starts to pile up. It’s a necessary event, but also it’s great to bring the community together for a common cause,” said Flannery. “There’s a lot of civic groups out here that donate time, so it’s good for the kids to start that idea of volunteerism.”
According to Flannery, volunteers were stationed throughout the township in parks like Green Acres and some of the bigger developments in town like Steeplechase and Bridle Club. A local Boy Scout troop tackled a large open area by Sherman’s Pond.
Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, a regular attendee to events in Burlington Township, joined residents at Green Acres Park and pitched in.
“I always seem to be excited about everything, but Burlington Township is one of the most exciting places to be. Mayor Carlin is so involved with his community. He brings this community together, and when he does, and you come out, they’re always working together to make things a lot better,” said Murphy. “If more communities came together, I think we will tend to see more of an exceptional place to continue to live in.”
Fourteen-year-old Sana Butt, an eighth-grade student at Burlington Township Middle School who volunteered her time to help out with the cleanup, used the opportunity to speak with Murphy about her ambition to become president.
“We have a lot of men in politics and I feel like sometimes we need different perspectives,” said Butt.
Asked by Murphy whether she believes she will be the first female to become president, Butt replied that she didn’t think so, but not being the first wouldn’t be an issue for her.
“I hope whenever you do run, whatever it is, wherever you start, you reach out to me because I would love to support you. I would love to stand behind you and say ‘Yes!’” said Murphy.
Murphy left Butt with some advice from one female political figure to another (future) female political figure.
“Continue working, because I think it’s important that not only do we have young people involved, but we also have more women involved,” said Murphy.
Twelve-year-old Connor Farley was another middle school student who joined the community event and helped cleaned up along Mill Road.
“You can just see a difference between when we started and when we finished,” said Farley.
The young volunteer happened upon one of the more memorable finds of the day, a nearly full set of deer bones, on the side of the road he was helping to clean. Farley said he was told the bones were his if he wanted them and planned to take home a keepsake from the day.
Although there are currently no plans in place for additional events like Cleanup Day throughout the rest of the year, Flannery said she would like to organize something similar for the fall months.
She also pointed out that residents need not wait for town-wide events like this to help their community.
“We’ll never turn away volunteers,” said Flannery.
