Zephyr Park

M.J. Price has to deal with a lot of garbage.

That’s not a problem for the longtime Zephyrhills resident. In fact, the more garbage she handles, the happier she is.

Her monthly I Heart Zephyrhills community cleanups are designed to clear out as much garbage as possible from a designated location on the last Saturday of every month between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. A group of approximately 15 to 25 volunteers joins Price each month to pick up around 15 kitchen-sized garbage bags’ worth of wrappers, cans, fast-food containers and other trash.

In the past year, the group has visited places such as Krusen Field, Tangerine Drive and Veteran’s Memorial Park.

Price decided to launch the monthly cleanup more than a year ago when she volunteered to clean up an area where she didn’t even live.

“We did a community cleanup with some friends from Zephyrhills down in Tampa, and I thought, ‘Well, this is so crazy that all these folks are driving all the way down to Tampa to clean up Tampa, when we live right in Zephyrhills,’” she said.

While the first community cleanup drew more than 200 volunteers more than a year ago, it’s settled into a smaller, core group. But there are some new faces, though Price said she hopes for more involvement from groups and civic organizations. She mentioned Crossroads Pentecostal Church as one congregation that has attended several cleanups.

There are benefits to the monthly events aside from helping to keep Zephyrhills looking nice, Price said. The group tries to keep them fun, promoting a contest for the strangest piece of trash collected. Previous winners include a hairpiece and seats for a boat.

An hour’s worth of exercise also is a positive, she said. And volunteering could have even longer-term benefits for an individual who might be looking for work or trying to make new contacts.

“You never know who is going to be picking up trash next to you,” Price said. “It might be somebody who is looking to employ someone. It might be someone who knows someone else. You never know. There are a lot of good connections that have been made.”

I Heart Zephyrhills also would write letters of recommendation for students looking to boost their college resume to confirm that they’ve done volunteer work for the group, Price said.

The city does a very good job of keeping things orderly, she said, and Price’s group aims to simply help clean up where they can. Unfortunately, people can get accustomed to a certain amount of trash. One or two wrappers might not seem like a big deal, but they impact the community appearance, and can soon grow into a problem.

“It piles up pretty quickly,” she said.

As a permanent resident since 1998, Price has organized more than 300 community events, from the monthly cleanups to an annual flag exchange and replacement program. She said it is part of her nature to get involved in her community.

“It’s just my thing,” Price said. “I was just raised that way — that you’re always trying to better the place where you live. It’s just kind of what I do, and I really love it.”

I Heart Zephyrhills works on the last Saturday of every month except December. Volunteers will head next to Zephyr Park, 38116Fifth Ave., west of U.S. 301 on State Road 54. The July 28 event begins at 9 a.m.

Volunteers should wear a pair of work gloves, closed-toe shoes and long pants. I Heart Zephyrhills will provide water, garbage bags and a method of hauling away the trash.

For more information, contact Price at (813) 782-1500, ext. 104, or email her at .

Published July 9, 2014

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