Hollister
– Wearing a red ‘Baler apron and gardening gloves, 15-year-old
Gia Garioto sat on the side of the flower bed at Veterans Memorial
Building pulling out weeds and small pieces of garbage.
Hollister – Wearing a red ‘Baler apron and gardening gloves, 15-year-old Gia Garioto sat on the side of the flower bed at Veterans Memorial Building pulling out weeds and small pieces of garbage.
“I’m pulling out the leaves so that the place looks clean and to help the community look better,” Gia said, barely stopping to glance up from her work.
Gia helps clean downtown Hollister three times a week – volunteering with about 20 other students from the special education class at San Benito High School working with the city to keep downtown clean and vital.
The class recently cleaned trash from tree beds throughout the downtown area and pulled weeds by the Veterans Memorial Building. They worked in the morning sun, sweeping and cleaning up around the downtown landmark. Most of the students said they enjoyed the work.
Malia Yoshikawa, 18, said she was working “to make things beautiful so that people can see.”
Mona Trevino, who teaches one of the high school classes, came up with the idea of having the students help out by cleaning downtown.
“I think it’s important for them to understand the importance of keeping the community clean,” Trevino said. “It’s just a way for them to feel good about where they are and to make them conscientious.”
Trevino contacted Community Services Director Clay Lee to find out how her class could contribute to the city’s upkeep.
“They asked if there were any types of simple maintenance projects their group could do,” Lee said. “It’s a good partnership. With our budget cutbacks, we need all the help we can get.”
The city parks department has been hit by budget cuts and staffing decreases over the past year. The number of city employees who help maintain the parks and public areas of Hollister was reduced from seven to four positions last year.
“They wanted to do something for the community,” Park Supervisor Marcelo Orta said. “They started weeding the flower beds. It’s things that myself and my crew don’t have the time to do.”
Orta said he welcomes other volunteer groups’ help with maintenance. Several other groups have offered to help the city’s cleanup effort, he noted.
“Sometimes for me it’s embarrassing because our parks have never looked this way, but we just don’t have the manpower,” Orta said.
The students’ hard work pays off in the reward of knowing they helped out their city.
“They can always cruise by with their parents and say, ‘You know what? I did that,'” Orta said.
