By Jessica Easthope
If you litter, you’re not taking good care of your community, but the Kids Care Crew is doing just that.
The Kids Care Crew, a new organization, held its inaugural community service event August 19. The mission: clean up Metropolitan Avenue.
“These streets shouldn’t look like this, they should look clean, they should look good and nobody should really litter so I think it would be really nice if we could clean up the streets and it would be better than it is right now,” said Chloe Miranda, a fourth grader at St. Margaret Catholic Academy.
Before the children, who are students at St. Margaret Catholic Academy in Middle Village, Queens began the clean-up, they were visited by two people who know all about serving in the community, Queens Councilman Bob Holden and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. The two stopped by to thank the kids and give them some encouragement.
“This is what community is about, parents telling their kids every day how do we do acts of kindness, looking at these budget cuts and instead of saying woe is me, saying why not me, why don’t I clean up on my block,” said Adams.
During the pandemic, trash has been piling up on the streets of New York City. In June the City cut $106 million from the Sanitation Department budget, reducing pickup for public garbage cans by 60 percent.
“We went through the 70s and 80s, I remember the days of trash all over the cities, you couldn’t go on the subway without graffiti everywhere, we’re getting back to that and it’s unfortunate so our young people are now stepping up and saying we’re going to help out,” said Holden.
The Kids Care Crew was there to pickup the slack and everything they could grab.
“The people who put it down don’t really ever pick it up they just leave it there and other people sometimes trip and we want to clean it up so people don’t trip and get hurt,” said Jewelz Mayol, a third grader and Kids Care Crew member.
Kids Care Crew was formed by a group of moms who say they want to lead by example and make community service a big part of their children’s lives and faith.
“I think to me faith is helping people even when it’s not convenient, we know the coronavirus is here and it’s easier to stay home and watch things on TV but we can very safely mask up, glove up, and go out and show our kids that even in hard times it’s still important to give back and do the right thing,” said Kate Barvels an organizer of the Kids Care Crew.
The Kids Care Crew’s next event will be a backpack donation to students from PS 157 in Harlem on September 2.