Sonia Siwa of PDM Promoters said 78 volunteers showed up, including PDM staffers, Kinpachi Restaurant employees, members of the Saipan Awaodori Team with their parents, and other volunteers from the community.
“We are very happy with the big turnout of volunteers who collected 1,060 lbs. of trash who shared the common goal of beautifying our tourist area,” Siwa said.
PDM holds the monthly cleanup in Garapan every first or second Saturday of the month.
The team usually starts from the side of Winchell’s, proceeds to Coral Tree Avenue and around Paseo de Marianas, the fire station and American Memorial Park.
The volume of trash collections by the PDM volunteers continue to increase this year, from just around 300 to 400 lbs each month last year up to over a thousand pounds each month this year.
The trash includes plastic, discarded tires, styrofoam, and other garbage from business establishments.
Siwa said the organization’s goal of involving children in the trash collection is to give them a direct education on the importance of keeping the community clean to make it more enticing for tourists.
Picking other people’s trash, she said, will create more impact on the young children than lecturing about trash in the classrooms.
Siwa said Joe Kaipat of the Division of Environmental Quality provided refreshments to the volunteers.
To join the monthly cleanup, call Siwa at 234-6900.
