Volunteers come together to help residents clean up homes, lawns

Friday, 20 April 2012 by Ashley Corn

Two of the many volunteers for Belton’s “One Community One Day” event work on removing brush from outside a home on Saturday. More than 200 volunteers came out to help residents with various jobs around their houses.On Saturday the volunteers for "One Community One Day" braved the smoldering heat to clean up and repair houses all around Belton. This is only their second year, but the event has already grown since it's beginning.

"This is just a blessing," said Laura Yager a Belton resident, with a big grin. "It's phenomenal what they've done in such a short amount of time. They even fixed my mailbox that was about to fall over. I am so grateful. My house looks beautiful."

"One Community One Day" is a community project organized by the Youth Advisory Commission and the City of Belton. The goal is to come together for one day and focus on improving the community.

The work they did wasn't a simple task. Volunteers cut down trees, raked leaves, did home repairs, trimmed trees, hauled heavy material, washed windows and much more difficult jobs.

"We have a lot more volunteers than we had last year, probably around 200 and we could use so much more," said Bethany House of the Youth Advisory Commission. "This is such a great organization. We would like to give a big thanks to Lowe's for donating rakes, shovels, and buckets."

Volunteers, including many Belton High School and UMHB students, helped numerous residents clean up their yards during the City’s “One Community One Day” event last Saturday.Resident Terri Kelley said she was grateful for the help.

"I have been gone for six months and when I came back I was just overwhelmed by how bad the house got," Terri Kelley said. "These people are just a blessing. I couldn't be any happier with how great my house looks. It's even better than I expected."

Kelley not only was very appreciative of the work they did on her house, she even got out and helped them.

Bharath Lavendra, a YAC member, said with a tree limbs in his arms, "More volunteers are greatly appreciated. It would be such a big help."

For people that weren't able to clean up houses, smaller jobs were available such as Bulky Waste Pickup Day. People left old furniture, appliances, or lumber out on the curb and it was picked up and was sorted, then taken to the dump.

If you would like to enter your house to be selected for a clean up next year, or wish to volunteer for "One Community One Day," you can contact the Belton Parks and Recreation Department at (254) 933-5860, or e-mail Sandy Slade at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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