Can I make a confession? I didn't really want to go to the cleanup this morning.
After the MINA BBQ on Saturday, the Flame Tree Festival last weekend, and the Beautify CNMI Anniversary dinner the weekend before, all I really wanted to do was to wake up at 10 AM, brew some coffee, and scratch my butt for 6 or 7 hours.
I knew I couldn't do that though, so I got up, hopped in the shower, got dressed, and arrived to the cleanup about 15 minutes late (sorry). All of the volunteers were already out in the tourist district when I arrived. Other than Kyle and Dennis, who were about to start cleaning, only Marites and Vangie were at the meetup point.
Usually what I do at the Garapan cleanup is to stay in the parking lot signing people in and handing out trash bags. This week the three of us, instead of staying back for the latecomers or picking up garbage, grabbed our cameras and went looking for the volunteers; We wanted to take some pictures and then grab some donuts at Winchell's for the volunteers.
This morning was our seventh consecutive month of cleaning up the tourist district and I was really discouraged by what I saw. Beautify CNMI has been around for almost a year, we've been in the news almost weekly, we've won national recognition...and there's still garbage all over Garapan.
I didn't really express my disappointment, just kind of kept it to myself as we walked past piles of plastic bottles and discarded cigarettes. There was even a dead cat in the CPL Derence Jack Road drainage ditch:
Not that I was ready to fold up and quit, but I was sure thinking about not coming back to Garapan for a while. I only started to feel better as we ran into all the different volunteers picking up trash.
We ran into Nancy and Ron, who live on the West Coast, but spend part of their time out in the CNMI. They've been fantastic supporters of Beautify CNMI, donating several hundred dollars over the past few months to pay for cleanup supplies. Then we ran into the Filipino Gay Association, the volunteers from Kinpachi Restaurant, the FMI crew, Adam Sablan and his mom, Juanita, and then we found Cinta's family, who was cleaning up with two new volunteers from Saipan International School.
Everyone had a smile on their face and nobody was complaining. They just picked up the bottles, picked up the cans, and picked up the cigarette butts.
They made me feel better. They made me realize that we are making a difference.
We're really lucky to be an organization where 54 volunteers is considered a small turn out. Thanks to everyone who came out this morning.
When I got to PIC, EJ was in the middle of the Queen of the Beach tournament. She was still playing her first round. Melissa, Michelle, and Kimiko were in her grouping:
Those girls play some mean volleyball! EJ played three games in the first round, one with each of the other three girls as a teammate. She won her first game with Melissa, lost her second game with Kimiko, and won her third game with Michelle. That was good enough to get her to the next round.
I didn't stick around, though. I had to go up to Dan Dan to visit with FMI on their second cleanup of the day. I didn't help any, but I did stay manage to drink two Pepsis and eat about 10 ribs. Thanks, FMI!
Then I went home and downloaded all my pictures from the weekend and wrote this post. I'm going to go find some grub when I'm done.
After the MINA BBQ on Saturday, the Flame Tree Festival last weekend, and the Beautify CNMI Anniversary dinner the weekend before, all I really wanted to do was to wake up at 10 AM, brew some coffee, and scratch my butt for 6 or 7 hours.
I knew I couldn't do that though, so I got up, hopped in the shower, got dressed, and arrived to the cleanup about 15 minutes late (sorry). All of the volunteers were already out in the tourist district when I arrived. Other than Kyle and Dennis, who were about to start cleaning, only Marites and Vangie were at the meetup point.
Usually what I do at the Garapan cleanup is to stay in the parking lot signing people in and handing out trash bags. This week the three of us, instead of staying back for the latecomers or picking up garbage, grabbed our cameras and went looking for the volunteers; We wanted to take some pictures and then grab some donuts at Winchell's for the volunteers.
This morning was our seventh consecutive month of cleaning up the tourist district and I was really discouraged by what I saw. Beautify CNMI has been around for almost a year, we've been in the news almost weekly, we've won national recognition...and there's still garbage all over Garapan.
I didn't really express my disappointment, just kind of kept it to myself as we walked past piles of plastic bottles and discarded cigarettes. There was even a dead cat in the CPL Derence Jack Road drainage ditch:
Not that I was ready to fold up and quit, but I was sure thinking about not coming back to Garapan for a while. I only started to feel better as we ran into all the different volunteers picking up trash.
We ran into Nancy and Ron, who live on the West Coast, but spend part of their time out in the CNMI. They've been fantastic supporters of Beautify CNMI, donating several hundred dollars over the past few months to pay for cleanup supplies. Then we ran into the Filipino Gay Association, the volunteers from Kinpachi Restaurant, the FMI crew, Adam Sablan and his mom, Juanita, and then we found Cinta's family, who was cleaning up with two new volunteers from Saipan International School.
Everyone had a smile on their face and nobody was complaining. They just picked up the bottles, picked up the cans, and picked up the cigarette butts.They made me feel better. They made me realize that we are making a difference.
We're really lucky to be an organization where 54 volunteers is considered a small turn out. Thanks to everyone who came out this morning.When I got to PIC, EJ was in the middle of the Queen of the Beach tournament. She was still playing her first round. Melissa, Michelle, and Kimiko were in her grouping:
Those girls play some mean volleyball! EJ played three games in the first round, one with each of the other three girls as a teammate. She won her first game with Melissa, lost her second game with Kimiko, and won her third game with Michelle. That was good enough to get her to the next round.I didn't stick around, though. I had to go up to Dan Dan to visit with FMI on their second cleanup of the day. I didn't help any, but I did stay manage to drink two Pepsis and eat about 10 ribs. Thanks, FMI!
Then I went home and downloaded all my pictures from the weekend and wrote this post. I'm going to go find some grub when I'm done.