Author: McKinley Corbley / Source: Good News Network
Though the partial US government shutdown has left some national parks scrambling to maintain their lands and facilities, hundreds of civilians are stepping up to care for the public lands of their own accord.
In Tennessee, a father-daughter duo has been tackling the litter left behind on the trails of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
With park services lacking funding to keep parks clean, Marc Newland and his 10-year-old daughter Erica have spent their days hiking the mountain trails with trash bags in hand so they can pick up litter along the way.
The Newlands have always been avid hikers, but when Marc told his daughter about how the shutdown would affect the mountain park, she suggested that they take it upon themselves to keep the trails tidy.
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“Erica says that she would like to challenge other hikers to take one day off from getting in miles and impressive vista pics and instead, give back by grabbing a trash bag, heading to the park and collecting some litter!!” Mark wrote in a post to the Hike the Smokies Facebook page. “These mountains give so much to so many people. Imagine if only a fraction of those people decided to give back to the mountains.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of Muslim men volunteering with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association have been picking up trash in parks and public spaces across the nation – from the Everglades in Florida to the National Mall in Washington DC.
More than a dozen young men with @MuslimYouthUSA are cleaning up Independence Mall today in pouring rain. They say they are doing their part in helping amid government shutdown. pic.twitter.com/xxTvyubo9W
— Claudia Vargas (@InqCVargas)
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