Around 70 volunteers from ASEZ, the university student group from the World Mission Society Church of God, came together for their Mt. Pleasant Park cleanup. The cleanup, held on August 4, 2019, is a continuation of ASEZ’s Reduce Crime Together campaign, based on the broken windows theory. The members believe that by eliminating visible signs of crime can naturally discourage negative behavior and reduce crime.
Moving Forward with the Same Vision for a Better Future
ASEZ partnered with Friends of Herring Run Parks to make this cleanup a success. Friends of Herring Run Park protect, preserve and restore the parks throughout the Herring Run area in order to create a more sustainable environment for future generations. Mt. Pleasant Park is located near Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, where a few of the ASEZ volunteers are enrolled. Kevin Cleary, Board Vice President of Herring Run Parks, showed the volunteers his support, as did Amanda Cunningham, who is also a board member.
Partnering with Friends of Herring Run Parks couldn’t have worked out better since ASEZ’s mission to save the earth and create a better future align’s perfectly with their goals. When the volunteers arrived, they immediately got to work, with trash bags and trash grabbers in hand. They cleaned the football, soccer and baseball fields of the park. Additionally, they cleaned the wooded area surrounding each field, and both sides of the street running through the park.
The volunteers cleaned up unsightly items such as cans, bottles, food wrappers, papers, scrap metal, a hub cap, and two tires. Moreover, they also clipped back branches and vines to increase visibility for drivers, making the street and park safer for both drivers and pedestrians. The volunteers collected around 80 bags of trash in only a few hours.
Residents Join Hands
When one of the residents heard about the cleanup, she came with her two sons, and the three of them joined the volunteers. A man walking his dog also chipped in and picked up some trash. Neighbors passing by continually to show their thanks and appreciation to the volunteers for their good deeds throughout the afternoon. Kevin Cleary, too, was moved and impressed with the volunteers’ hard work.
“Well, the cleanup today was phenomenal. It’s a very hot day, [with] dirty conditions, but the folks from ASEZ were just super,” said Cleary. “We cleaned up a lot of trash, which means the stream, river, and Chesapeake Bay—and eventually, the Atlantic Ocean—will be cleaner because of their efforts.”
ASEZ stands for Save the Earth from A to Z, and is active in 175 countries around the world. ASEZ is led by university students from the World Mission Society Church of God. Though they are busy with school and work, they carry volunteer services in their spare time. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate crime by sharing the love of a Heavenly Mother with all of mankind. To learn more about ASEZ and its initiatives, please visit wmscog.com/asez.
