An 8-year-old girl is cleaning up her New Jersey community one piece of trash at a time
MANVILLE, New Jersey (WABC) -- Dukes Park in Manville is very serene and just waking up from the long winter. It's a favorite spot for 8-year-old Alina Colon, especially as the Raritan River running through.
"I really like how it's big and open, you don't know where it's going to go," Colon said.
But one day she noticed something she didn't like.
"I came out and I noticed there was some trash, then I noticed a bunch of parts and I really didn't like that because I knew it was going to hurt our community, so I wanted to do something about it," Colon said.
She went to her dad.
"I asked my dad if we could clean up the park and he ordered these sticks and we got to work," Colon said.
Colon meant business from the very start.
"And what really drove the point home that she was serious was when we got the sticks, she was like 'So when are we going?'" Anthony Colon, Colon's father, said. "We got out here, we got busy, and we filled up two bags on the first day."
At 8 years old, this isn't even the beginning of her community spirit.
"She sold hot chocolate to raise money for the fire department one year," Anthony Colon said. "This is just the kind of person she is."
And she even has plans for later this year.
"When it's summer, I think I will like to do a lemonade stand and raise money for the police department," Colon said.
But while spring is still bringing the park back to life, she is using the lessons she learned from her Earth Watchers Club at Weston Elementary School to beautify the place she chose to protect.
"I'm just very proud she took it upon herself to notice something needed to be done and she was willing to do it," Anthony Colon said.
"You don't have to do this," Eyewitness News reporter Toni Yates said.
"Yeah, I want to do it because I know it's the right thing to do," the young girl said.
That's what leaders say.
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