February 14th Service on Saturday: Community Cleanup - Memphis City Beautiful

Enjoyed the service today it was amazing being able to help clean up the community.

This year, I was able to spend my Valentine's Day volunteering with Memphis City Beautiful. This experience helped me build a stronger sense of responsibility and awareness. Picking up trash required attention to detail and persistence, especially in areas with larger amounts of litter. This service influenced my understanding by showing me how neglected some areas of the city are. I was extremely surprised by how much trash was scattered throughout the streets, and it made me realize that not all communities receive the same level of care and attention. During this event, I connected with other University of Memphis students who share similar career goals, and they introduced me to additional service opportunities in the city. Working as a team also made this even possible, because there was no way we would have been able to make an actual difference if we all worked alone. My service contributed to the mission of Memphis City Beautiful by helping clean up the streets and improve the appearance of the community. By removing litter, I supported their goal of making Memphis a cleaner and more attractive place. The leaders of the event also supported us during the event by providing us with everything we needed to get the most amount of work done in the amount of time we had. The organization also had people come out and help, which I thought was very nice because it shows how much they actually care about making a difference in the city. This service aligned strongly with my personal values. I believe in helping when I can and taking care of my community, and cleaning up trash directly reflects both of those beliefs. It also allowed me to see the importance of each individual taking action to maintain the city's image and environment.