Greene County High School’s annual leak raking service project grew to 133 yards in Jefferson, Scranton and Grand Junction. Students, teachers, and community volunteers enjoyed temperatures in the low 70s as they raked the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 3. According to teacher Teresa Green, the project allows students to show their appreciation for everything the communities do for the schools.
Green first organized the leaf raking project as advisor of the Interact Club in 1997 when only 10 yards and about 20 students raked. The project had outgrown the Interact Club by 1999, but Green still does the organizing. She develops a list of senior residents and others with special concerns, and then assigns groups and yards according to location and size. As groups finish their assigned yards, they help others in the same neighborhood.
Green thanked the Jefferson Fareway store for donating 42 cases of water, and Home State Bank, Peoples Trust & Savings Bank and Wells Fargo for donating 75 dozen donuts. The Jefferson Rotary Club donated leaf bags and tarps.
She thanked the city of Jefferson for providing two garbage trucks in Jefferson, New Way for providing one in Scranton, and the city of Grand Junction for providing pickup trucks in Grand Junction. The Jefferson city crews prepared the leaf dump site at Daubendiek Park to receive the abundance of leaves and cleaned the site afterward.
Rotary Club members and local volunteers drove 40 pickup truck to help transport leaves to the garbage trucks or Daubendiek Park. Eighteen other community volunteers help rake and chaperone students.
The school provided bus transportation to the various neighborhoods and used a school-owned pickup truck and trailer to help transport leaves.
Middle school teachers Tom Braun and Ryan Eberly and their classes also raked yards that afternoon.
“It takes a lot of people to make a project like this come together,” Green said. “This was great having our school work with various groups to give back to our communities. We appreciate all of the help from each of these groups. We could not have completed their project without their help.”
High school students had no class Friday afternoon as a bonus for having raked on Tuesday.
