By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Ortonville — The annual Rocking and Raking planners are seeking volunteers and homes in Brandon Township for the annual late April cleanup.
From 9 a.m.-4 p.m., April 27 groups of volunteers will arrive at homes in the community to pick up yards following a long winter.
Faye Bindig, Edna Burton Senior Center coordinates a project that’s open to senior citizens 62 and up along with disabled adults 18 and up.
“There are many seniors having difficulty with yard clean-up,” said Bindig. “They’re older, they have special needs or they just don’t have the strength to do it themselves. The volunteers may not be able to complete all the tasks requested, but they will attempt to get as much as possible.”
Bindig said that through this event, they get a lot of cross-generational interaction between youth volunteers and the seniors in the community.
“It also gives the kids volunteer hours and a sense of accomplishment,” she said.
The deadline for volunteers to sign up, or for those needing their yards cleaned up to get on the schedule, is April 15. From 12:15-2:15 lunch will also be provided to volunteers at the Edna Burton Senior Center, 345 Ball St.
“All are invited to join for lunch to meet and eat with the young people and their adult supervisors who volunteered their time to spiff up the yards,” said Bindig. “The more the merrier. They say many hands make light work, so if we have a lot of volunteers we can get more houses done.”