Trash Ninjas beautify city

By GLENDA CAUDLE
Special Features Editor
Among the valuable lessons young people learn at Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Tennessee-Union City are ones about giving back to the community and taking pride in the areas where one lives, works, studies and plays.
With both of those concepts in mind, a team of young men, who have styled themselves “Trash Ninjas,” are launching a plan to help beautify Union City.
The effort began Thursday, in conjunction with the local Earth Day Celebration 2012,  when a half-dozen of the group — Steven Molands, Ricky Alexander, Riley Thompson, Conner White, Devin Smith and A.J. Morris — cleared the streets and several vacant lots east of the club of trash and debris.
“Cleaning a Community Near You” is the group’s commitment and they — along with other club members —will be broadening the scope of that effort over the next several weeks as they tackle areas all over the town.
Thursday’s effort was a “practice run” for the Ninjas, who collected quite a bit of trash in an hour’s effort.
Board members, pleased to see the initiative taking shape, will be looking for sponsors for additional clean-up efforts. Businesses, individuals and civic groups will be contacted to see if they are interested in pledging support that will go directly to the club as its members “clean a community near you.”
To find out more about the program, to make a donation to the effort or to learn more about plans for school time and summer activities, call 885-0883 or go by the club during after-school hours at 1015 East College St.

Published in The Messenger 4.20.12