Community Clean-Up

I served the community of South Memphis/ Soulsville. Cleaning up the trash in the area will benefit everything (people and animals) living in the community. The animals will not suffer by ingesting waste and the people will not be plagued by trash covering their community.

What impact do you think your service had on you personally?
While I have seen littering and trash on the side of the road in my community I have never seen as much as I saw in Soulsville. Every time the people living and working in the community thank us and give their appreciation. This makes me feel as though I am doing something good for the community.

What did you learn about the community or environment you served?
We learned more about the community and Lemoyne Owen College. We picked up around the area and some faculty of the college came out and talked to us. We talked for a while and she invited us to an event on campus.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Yes, working with this organization is so rewarding. I am growing to love the community and cannot wait to volunteer there next semester!

My service benefited South Memphis by making it a cleaner city. I cleaned up trash off the streets so it was nice to make Memphis a better place.
1. Did you work individually or as part of a team during your service? How did that impact your experience?
- I worked as a team. It was fun to work as a team and made cleaning up trash more motivating. I enjoyed being with fellow ELs cleaning up trash around South Memphis.
2. What impact do you think your service had on you personally?
- Serving here made it more motivating to serve in the city of Memphis. Memphis needs people to make it a better place and to be a part of the change is a good feeling.
3. Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
- I do plan to volunteer in the future. It was a good and fun way to volunteer and made it more motivating to continue to serve.

I volunteered for the Memphis Rox Service on a Saturday. We helped clean up trash in the nearby area of the Memphis Rox building. This is going to positively affect residents of the community, because they will be able to have a cleaner area that they can enjoy. This was a group activity and we all tackled different spots. Having this group aspect made the job easier as well as more enjoyable. This service aligns with my personal beliefs, because I think it is important for the community that you live in to be clean. If the community is clean it will increase the pride for everyone who lives there, which can only lead to good things. I will definitely volunteer for this organization again because the process was smooth and the task was clear. I also align with what they are trying to do, so I will be back.

The community cleanup was a great service opportunity to benefit the community of South Memphis. In total we filled over 20 bags of trash. Our service to the community cleanup of South Memphis will help benefit the people living there as many of the people living there are unable to take care of their property. Having a clean yard/environment makes me feel productive/accomplished so I'm sure it has the same effect on the citizens of South Memphis as well. We worked in pairs of two to pick up the trash, one person holding the bag and one grabbing trash. I believe that working in pairs was very beneficial as it is the most effective way to pick up trash and requires the use of teamwork. I learned about how different the environment was in South Memphis as opposed to where I live in Cordova. I was very surprised about the amount of trash just sitting off the road and in people yards. I plan to definitely volunteer again as this organization is great and helps to benefit the community of South Memphis.