MERIDIAN, Idaho — Dozens of neighbors spent their Saturday mornings helping their neighbors rake up their lawns full of Autumn leaves.
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(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
“I do this because I love giving back. I’ve lived in Meridian my whole life. I grew up participating in Rake Up Meridian with different volunteer organizations,” said Kaitlin Johnson. Johnson knows spending a few hours every fall to help her neighbors makes a big difference in their lives.
“This couple specifically, [he] is a retired Veteran and he is also a Chaplain. So we are not only helping our residents in Meridian here, we’re also helping a Veteran and we’re always happy to do that,” said Johnson.
She and the rest of the Idaho Central Credit Union team helped gather leaves from the front, back and side yards of this North Meridian home Saturday morning, packing them into bags to be recycled, and having fun while doing so.
While the Treasure Valley YMCA Swim team ‘drove' into some lawns south of the interstate.
“Just giving back to the community. That’s one of the things with the swim team, we try to teach them some social responsibility,” said Linda Conger - Volunteer Lead for YMCA Swim team.
These volunteer teams will rake up leaves typically from homes of elderly or disabled people, who need a little extra help, and who signed up through Republic Services and the city.
With more leaves falling everyday, “a little act of kindness goes a long way,” said Johnson, who hopes to inspire others to do the same.
“I’ve never turned down help that’s been offered to me, myself. Anytime I can look to make someone’s day a little bit easier like in their load a little bit. It feels great so if you have the opportunity and a couple spare bags raking a couple houses on your street is a great idea.” said Johnson.
