To get the garden in Rising Star Elementary school off to a good start, as part of our program, we gave it a thorough cleanup and took care of it before the start of the new school year. After an excruciatingly hot summer, the garden was overrun by weeds and blackberries, and the plants had dried up by the intense summer heat, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. We got our program off to a fresh start by tending to the plants in the bed by watering them and pulling the weeds that had grown around them. After that, we began placing cardboard on the areas that had dirt and then covering it with woodchips. The walks weren't as barren since there were plentiful amounts of woodchips, there were no weeds protruding from the beds and paths, and the blackberries receded from the garden.

We held our first Garbage Day since our new launch on September 25th. To begin, we went to Rising Star Elementary School and gave the students a brief understanding of Garbage Day. Following that, we split into two groups: the first group proceeded down Myrtle Street, while the second journeyed from 37th Street to Othello Street. We gathered everything from Nike sneakers to Starbucks; each group managed to fill a huge garbage bag. Overall, we had a wonderful time; when the event ended, most of the volunteers had already left, so we gathered the remaining helpers and went out for a drink.

Today, October 9th, we gathered up garbage from Van Asselt Community Center all the way to Seattle Supermarket. We had a lot of volunteers helping out, with some people being very focused on making sure the streets are spotless. We smashed our previous record by collecting four bags of garbage instead of the usual two! We'd like to thank all of our volunteers for their efforts in keeping our community clean!

We wanted to undertake something meaningful during the fourth week of our program. Because we had always focused on cleaning Beacon Avenue in the past, we decided to attempt something different this time around. We intended to clean up and pick up garbage in the neighboring parks and neighborhoods. We started off at Rising Star Elementary School and then made our way all the way down to 39th avenue before arriving at Central Park to clean up trash there. Originally, we had intended to make our way up to John C. Little Park, but instead, we came upon this piece of land that was littered with garbage. The moment we laid eyes on it, we were certain that we needed to concentrate our time and energy on it. We were able to fill an entire trash bag with trash just from that one spot. At the end of the program, we were successful in collecting three bags' worth of garbage. As a reward for our Helpers for helping us achieve something truly special, we took them and treated them to bubble tea. Despite unexpected twists and turns in the road, we've managed to turn them to our advantage, which has led to our best event yet.

We hadn't held Ivy Day in a very long time, so when Ms. Kovach came back to host it once again, we couldn't have been more ecstatic to have her back. We were fortunate as it didn't rain throughout the 2 hours, despite the fact that it had been raining nonstop all week. We gathered ourselves in a circle and were taught the correct way to use the various tools and plants that were found in the woods. We split up into groups of four and began in a small circle that hardly accommodated all of the volunteers. Once we got to work, however, the space immediately grew, we created two new trails, and we removed the invasive plants that were growing among the native plants. When the two hours were over, we had cleaned up such a large area that it was unrecognizably changed. An area that was formerly overrun by blackberries and ivy was been cleared and native plants like snowberries and numerous trees that had been hidden by the blackberry infestation had been uncovered and now could thrive in their own space.

For the first time since the start of Helper Sunday, we made changes to our Garbage Day. Now, our Garbage Day is part of the Adopt-A-Street program. That means we receive supplies and support from the government. Armed with our new trash grabbers and supplies, we were ready to clean up the community. We started off by getting ready, wearing bright orange vests and safety gloves. We each got a garbage grabber and each group got a bag. We explained the safety rules and protocols, before walking out into the street, ready to pick up trash. We started off strong, filling the bags full of trash, but we stumbled upon a problem. The trash bags were getting full and we didn't bring enough, so we made as much space as possible. Luckily, we made a stop and got more bags. While we were there, we took a small break, before moving onto Swift Avenue. Although we didn't quite complete our route, we managed to pick up a whopping 13 bags, thanks to our volunteers. Because of this, our community is a lot cleaner than yesterday.

Following a lengthy break, we got back to work and had our first Ivy Day in a while with Ms. Kovach. We were led deep into the forest by Ms. Kovach, the vice principal of Rising Star Elementary School and the forest stewardess. When we arrived at our destination, the ivy had already completely taken over, squeezing the last drop of water and nutrients out of the trees. Equipped with our loppers, we started prying and pulling the Ivy, separating it from the tree. We disposed of our ivy by placing it on rafts, which are constructed by laying a row of sticks on one layer and then adding another layer on top of that to form a grid. The process is repeated until it appears that the ivy will no longer be able to touch the soil, preventing it from spreading. During those two hours, we were able to clear the area, which was encased in ivy, and transform it, giving the plants a chance to breathe again. Although there were some issues along the way, we pulled through and helped clear a lot of Ivy.

Since this was going to be the first Garbage Day of 2023, we needed to make sure that everything went smoothly. The first thing we did was sign in at Rising Star Elementary school, and then we participated in an activity in which everyone had to name one rule of our Garbage Day. After we went over the safety protocol, we set off picking up trash, we set off picking up trash.  We decided to stick with the safe route, walking in Beacon Hill Avenue.  We saw that the left and right side were pretty clean, with trash appearing here and there, but the middle contained a sizable amount of trash. We were making our way toward our destination when we felt something, a drop of rain. Then there was another. And not much longer after that, it began to pour.  Despite the rain, we were able to persevere and make it all the way to Brandon Street; unfortunately, we were forced to cut our journey short and stop on Brandon Street instead of continuing towards the Seattle Supermarket. Although we were unable to make it to our goal, we managed to walk 2 miles and pick up 8 bags of trash, all because of our helpers' dedication and determination.