Cleaning Our Communities in Los Angeles County

When the call for help comes in, Liberty is ready and willing to put their backs into it. In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, 2024, Liberty volunteers in Southern California worked with Assemblywoman Pacheco’s office, Caltrans, and the City of Norwalk on a trash clean-up project along two on-ramps of the I-605 freeway. Ten Liberty volunteers worked for over three hours picking up trash in Norwalk. By the end of the day, the group had collected more than 25 bags of trash and made a visible improvement to the area. 

Joplin Volunteers Help Literacy Program Take Off

Volunteers from Liberty were on hand to help Joplin NALA’s fourth annual Literacy Liftoff take flight. 

The event – presented by the Joplin Neighborhood Adult Literacy Action – was held in September at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri. It included tethered hot air balloons, games, interactive booths, food trucks, prizes, and music. Founded in 1981, NALA is a non-profit organization that offers programs designed to strengthen adult learners’ literacy skills.?Literacy is the foundation for success, and at Liberty, we believe that strong literacy skills can help open doors to future careers — even in the utility industry. 

Liberty team members used company trucks to keep the balloons tethered, handed out coloring books and plastic hardhats, and let kids explore the utility vehicles. On hand were Joey Sparks, Anthony Sandoval, Adam Brockmiller, Ryan Phipps, Jonathan Hoffman, Landon Baker, Joe Knight, and Crystal Merrick. 

“It was a great event; there was a pretty big turnout,” says Phipps, who recently joined the company as Operations Accountant. “Unfortunately, it was too windy to offer balloon rides this year. But I think it was great for us to get out into the community, help bring some attention to the literacy program, and share some important safety information. Everybody won!” 

Lending a Helping Hand to Habitat for Humanity

Liberty employees are no strangers to hard work. In New Brunswick, Canada, a team tackled projects across the province to assist their friends at Habitat for Humanity New Brunswick. 

In Shediac, the hard-working team constructed interior basement walls of a duplex. The group in Saint John erected the exterior walls of a brand-new home just getting underway there. And the fearless team in Fredericton tackled the daunting task of organizing a huge storage trailer and building much-needed shelving.  

Meanwhile back in the states, a team of New York Water employees joined Operation Splash (Stop Polluting, Littering, and Save Harbors) to make our waters safer and cleaner. More than a dozen volunteers took a boat ride to a Long Island south shore beach where armed with buckets, trash pickers, and gloves, they collected garbage left behind by sunbathers, fishermen, and families. To put it in perspective, just one mylar balloon could take the life of a dolphin or other sea animal if it is mistaken for food. To date, more than 3,000,000 lbs. of trash has been removed from Long Island bays by volunteers participating in Operation Splash shoreline clean-ups. 

This second annual shoreline clean-up was a reminder that we need to leave our planet the way we find it. Enjoy your time at the beach, but take your trash with you – and maybe even a little extra.