More than 150 pounds of litter disappeared from four Worcester parks recently as Quinsigamond Community College employees traded their usual workday duties for gloves, trash bags and a little dirty work.
Employees from departments across QCC took part in the college’s Community Service Day, cleaning Burncoat, Elm, Institute and University parks as part of an effort to build stronger ties between the college and the community it serves.
The cleanup was organized through a collaboration between QCC’s Office of Access, Opportunity, and Institutional Compliance and Paul Ledoux, a healthcare simulation support technician at the college and founder of Worcester Litter Incorporated.
“This event is a first step of many,” Mendrick Banzuela, program administrator for the Office of Access, Opportunity, and Institutional Compliance, said in QCC’s announcement. “With our intentions in the right place, we can take action to have a positive impact on our community together. We have already received encouragement from our neighbors who saw us and appreciated what we did.”
Ledoux founded Worcester Litter Incorporated as a volunteer-driven effort to clean public spaces and encourage environmental stewardship. According to QCC, the initiative began simply enough: Ledoux started picking up litter while walking his dog.
As friends and other residents began asking to participate, the one-person effort grew into organized group cleanups, with Ledoux using social media to document the work and attract additional volunteers.
For QCC’s service day, that experience helped turn employees into cleanup crews at four parks across the city.
“The idea is to build camaraderie amongst the QCC community and allow us to connect even deeper into the area Quinsig serves,” Ledoux said in the college’s announcement.
QCC said employees who participated reported feeling both accomplished and more engaged with the people and neighborhoods around them.
The college is now exploring additional opportunities for employees to volunteer with other organizations, potentially making the park cleanup the beginning rather than the end of its community service efforts.
