Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at Imagination Station Reveals a lot about our Community

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was yesterday. Did you do anything to celebrate? Did you go on a special trip? Did you use the day to sleep in? Did you work to make your community better?

With boys, ages 3, 5, and 7, I was looking forward to this year's Martin Luther King Day of Service. Not because it would be a day off from learning. Instead it was a day to enrich our learning.

My boys have been learning who Martin Luther King Jr is in school and now they are old enough to honor him by giving service to their communities.

When we talked about it, we decided we would head over to the Imagination Station for our own little park clean up. was large enough for us to have enough work but still small enough to keep track of everyone and make a difference.

So we bundled up, grabbed some trash bags, and met up with some friends to clean up Imagination Station.  We walked around the lake gathering trash along the trail. Then, we picked up trash on the playground. We talked about what we found and how it got there. Thankfully, most of our community is keeping Imagination Station clean. :). However, here is what we found.

Kinds of litter found at Imagination Station

• wipes
• napkins
• balloons
• ribbons
• empty bottles
• straws
• candy wrappers
• food wrappers
• plastic utensils
• cigarette butts

Wow! That's a lot of litter. Why do people love our park enough to enjoy it but not enough to keep it clean? And look where we found the litter. 

Where the litter is at Imagination Station

• next to and between the trashcans
• along the fences
• underneath the benches
• on the tables

Yes, next to the trashcans. The playground itself has at least 4 trashcans and 4 recylcing cans. There are several along the path. There is no reason for the amount of trash we found and it's sad that my children had to see that others in their community are not caring for their park. That some are lazy. How else do I explain why we found 2 straws, a bottle, and candy wrappers between 2 trashcans? How do I explain that someone had the time to stop and have lunch but not throwaway their plate and fork? Or that someone stopped to have a cigarette at this bench but couldn't throw it away in a safe place?

The community and the parks, they belong to all of us. We all have a responsibility to clean it, to clean up after ourselves, and occasionally to clean up after others. We have a responsibility to teach our children that as well. I want my children to learn that, and they have this Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Hopefully through our example others will too.

If your family is ever interested in joining our family for a future park clean up, let me know. Comment below or email me at Jenniferauer at jerseyfamilyfun.com.