A collective effort is helping to organize an event that encourages residents of Barton County to come together Oct. 18 from 1-3 p.m. in helping clean up area parks.
Working together to clean up a neighborhood park builds a sense of community, helps preserve and protect nature, and fosters a sense of pride in beautifying local surroundings. Here is your opportunity to be a good park steward. Parks provide space for neighborhood residents and their children to safely play and enjoy the amazing space our community has given us.
During this park pick up, organizers want to make sure to pick up all the cigarette butts and masks that have been found recently littering our community. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world. Discarded cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are toxic, hazardous to the environment. Cigarette butts are not biodegradable. Small children and animals are at risk of swallowing, choking, or burning themselves with discarded butts and poisoning themselves with the nicotine drug. Tobacco waste makes parks and playgrounds look dirty and uninviting.
Area parks looking for volunteers on Oct. 18 include:
Brit Spaugh Park (Great Bend)
Ellinwood City Park
Heizer Park (Great Bend)
Hoisington Bicentennial Park
Veterans Memorial Park (Great Bend)
To sign up to volunteer visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/parks.