I had to step away from the thousands of people in our program to focus on government paperwork. I can finally see the finish line in completing our organizing documents and becoming a Public Charity. In all honesty, I did not do well in school as I am dyslexic, a control freak, and have serious ADHD. Perhaps this is why becoming a Public Charity has taken us this long.
I specifically remember a phone conversation six years ago.
I was putting together our first clean up in 2011 and a classmate connected me to the founder of Career Gear. Career Gear is a nonprofit that provides professional clothing, mentoring and life-skills to help men in poverty become stronger contributors to their families and communities. I asked him several questions in regards to the success of his nonprofit. He gave me several instances where he was able to positively impact others. He also explained how his nonprofit saved his life. By him turning his life around, he was able to take his experiences and influence others to change as well. However, what I remember most was when I asked him, “Are you able to make a living?” His voice shifted and he said, “If this is what you want to do, you should expect to be poor.”
To this day, that is still my mindset. I expect to be poor. I continue to spend all of my time and resources on stopping people from littering while proactively cleaning up litter. I’m sure I have sacrificed over ten thousand hours collectively picking up litter and organizing clean ups. It is fun to beautify a community and I truly enjoy making a difference. It is a tangible change. It is real and visible. Picking up litter is contagious if you have fun doing it. I know God created the LitterBugz for a reason and we are pushing through. Everything depreciates, even people. We (the human civilization) must keep up with what we have created: the everlasting economy. I will forever host clean ups and look forward to creating major change in the State of Ohio.
It is no longer “cool” to litter. You can tell your favorite rapper I said so..
jeff@thelitterbugz.org
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