Girl Scouts gather for cleanup effort

By GINGER MIKKELSEN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

More than 1,800 Girl Scouts from the Frontier Council of the Girl Scouts of America teamed up with the local youth volunteers to clean up their communities as part of national Make a Difference Day.

The Business Watch Network organized the local effort, called Operation Community Pride. The network is a local professional organization composed of small businesses, school representatives, police departments and government officials.

Project organizers divided participants into groups and assigned each group to one of the 33 cleanup locations across the valley. Volunteers gathered at participating gas stations in each location, where they received bright blue trash bags, plastic gloves, red T-shirts, bottled water and instructions.

At the end of the cleanup each participant was given coupons for a drink and a hotdog.

Girl Scout representative Juergen Barbusca said the girls made up a huge majority of the volunteers for Operation Community Pride. More than 2,000 people participated in the project. Out of that number, 1,800 volunteers were from the Girl Scouts.

"Community service is a big part of scouting," Barbusca said. He said it was especially important to get the girls involved on Make a Difference Day when they would know they were part of a nationwide effort.

In North Las Vegas, Girl Scouts hunted out trash as if they were looking for Easter eggs. Girls first went to Alexander Villas Park, only to find the place spotless. The park just reopened following a renovation in July, so parents and organizers reasoned it hadn't had the chance to accumulate litter.

Many of the volunteers regrouped and traveled in caravan to nearby Clyde C. Cox Elementary and Gwendolyn Woolley Elementary, both also remarkably clean. There they split their group into two and set out to pick up every tiny piece of trash.

Most of the girls could think of places they would rather be at 8 a.m. on a cold wet Saturday morning.

Mariah Tipton, 7, said she came to support her troop and the environment, but she would honestly rather be home watching cartoons.

Charlene Rumsey, 9, said she would rather be exercising.

"I could be home riding my bike or skateboarding or jumping rope," said Rumsey. But she, too, was happy to help the environment.

Many of the girls enjoyed the project.

"I think it's fun," said 9-year-old Heidi Cribbs. "It's a good thing. Some of the kids don't have enough common sense to put trash in the trash can."

Susan Cribbs, 13, helped her 8-year-old sister Kelsey along with their big blue trash bag. Susan said she realized she could be home riding her bike, but the earth needs to be cleaned.

Their younger sister Angela, 6, said she would rather be at Disneyland.

Girl Scout leader Iris Rumsey brought along her 3 year old daughter Cecelia. The trash bag was taller than little Cecelia, but that didn't deter her as she set off in search of litter, dragging the bag behind her.

"We like to get involved with service," Iris Rumsey said. "It keeps us together. Besides, somebody has got to do it. We need to keep the area cleaned up."

Girl Scout leader Mindy Roman said being up early for scouting on Saturday is pretty routine. The week before the cleanup, her group was on a camping trip. The week after, they planned to be at the Scouting Expo. Roman, a 15-year veteran of scouting, remains dedicated even though she has sons and no daughters.

In northwest Las Vegas, girls gathered at several locations to clean up their neighborhoods. A large group of volunteers gathered to clean up shopping center parking lots at the intersection of Rainbow and Cheyenne. Girl Scouts from Brownie troop 340 brought 35 girls to assist in the effort.

Danielle Wilkey, 8, said she was there to make a difference. Her friend Savannah Anas, 6, announced she was there to get a badge.

Girls weren't the only ones in on the cleaning action. Many troop leaders and parents brought their entire families to the event.