This Saturday morning, the Interact Club will meet up at the Highland Heights Community Center and then go to multiple neighborhood yards to help clean-up for those in need.

Kate McCartney, adviser of Interact club, recently hosted a few meetings before the clean-up. She said, “The biggest thing was to get people to go even if they are not in the club. They could sign-up [through] an app called Sign Up Genius, or email the coordinator. Then, we had to make sure people could get rides to wherever they are going.”

The volunteer has to prepare with essential gear for the clean-up. McCartney said, “The gear we need is dressing for the weather, small rakes, gloves, garbage bags, and more. The school won’t provide the tools we need, [so it either comes] from the students or the community center.”

The volunteers will meet at the community center before the clean-up. McCartney said, “First, the kids need to get into groups with their friends.”

Junior Kaylee Tsvedos, a member of Interact Club, believes students might have to form a smaller group than a bigger group. She said, “[There are no] buses, so [they] have to find a ride at the community center, and then we [have to] carpool to [figure out a way] to get [to each resident’s home].”

Every group will get its address after the groups are formed. McCartney said, “If [their houses are] bigger, we send a bigger group, if it’s smaller, we send a smaller group. The planning strategy depends on [the size of] the group, [the size of] the yards, and how many houses we have to accomplish.”

The club needed the resident’s permission before going to their house. Tsvedos said, “We contact those people before the clean-up, or they send us an email [to let us know], so it’s already pre-set.”

Jerry Turk, the assistant adviser of Interact Club, made the clean-up activity optional because students might have a bad attitude if the activities are mandatory. Turk said, “We want students to come for the right reasons, like wanting to help our community.”

From the previous cleanup, a lot of students dedicated their time to help. Turk said, “The communities loved it because people are coming out for the right reason to make their community a better place. [One time] we [accidently] scheduled a clean up on a rainy day. Nevertheless, the kids went out on their own and still got the yards done, which is amazing.”

Tsvedos is planning to attend weekend’s clean-up, which occurs on Earth Day. She said, “I learned [from the previous clean-up] how it’s beneficial to the Highland Heights community with some people struggling to do things on their own or they are busy. [During those times,] I [got to] see how people’s lives are different from each other.”

According to McCartney, the community is grateful the volunteers are doing this for them. She said, “Although we can’t hear how the people feel, deep down, they are very happy that we can help them. [Additionally,] students learn to provide a helping hand to those in need in the future.”