This is a report from Jessy Zamorano with Santa Cruz County AZ Shining.
So many individuals from our different communities joined together in comradery to bring an urgent sense of energy to the river cleanup. So much so that together, they removed 3.11 tons of all types of consumer trash and 3.59 tons of tires from just about a mile of the river. In reporting the final tonnage Stamback Rollovers said, “you guys really broke a sweat.”
Two hundred and six volunteers attended the river cleanup on a beautiful cool February morning. Ninety-five volunteers consisted of Rio Rico, Tubac Residents and nonprofit teams and other corporate teams. A breaking record eighty-three Rio Rico High School Students and eight Coatimundi Middle School National Junior Honor Students also joined in. Avalon Eco Village sent twenty-five of their “strongest and most able-bodied workers.” I opened up six leadership positions or “Field Operations Officers” to new volunteers. The Field Operations Officers included a pastor, a scientist, a landscaper, a builder, and so on. They led their teams to their assigned cleanup areas, each the length of about three football fields (360 yards) and kept everyone safe and moving. The eighteen ROTC Cadets, six Perrydise Landscaping workers and the twenty-five Avalon crew were assigned the most difficult duty – removing tires, some embedded, some with rims and some large tractor tires. Their collective strength removed more tires than we had the capacity to move to the rolloffs, so we had to follow up on Sunday with the help of Tubac Fire and others. My thanks to you are overwhelming and from my heart. For if not for your help and support enabling this powerful movement, we would not be making such fabulous progress. What we do today makes a difference tomorrow. Forever more, your footprint will remain on the Santa Cruz River.