AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Time now for our series Here To Help. We've been collecting stories of listeners who volunteer about what it means to them. Mark Remy from Portland, Oregon, told us that he would volunteer from time to time for various causes, but he had never really done anything on a regular basis. That is until a few years ago, when he became more aware of an issue that affects a lot of communities - litter.
MARK REMY: It started to really bother me to the point where I told my wife one day, I am so fed up with this litter. I'm going to go downtown and collect bagfuls of it and leave it on the steps of City Hall. And my wife probably rolled her eyes, at least to herself, but she said, you know, I bet there are groups out there that do that kind of thing on a recurring basis. It's like their mission. And I thought, you know what? Maybe you're right.
CHANG: After looking up some organizations online, Remy signed up with Solve, a nonprofit that began in 1969 dedicated to cleaning up litter and vandalism all across Oregon. Remy took part in a cleanup organized by Solve in downtown Portland about three years ago. He's continued to take part in cleanup events ever since.
REMY: They give you a trash grabber and some bags and a pair of gloves, and they send you out into the neighborhood. And you come back later with your bags full of trash, and soon after that, a hauler comes and hauls it away, and you get on with your day. It's not very glamorous, not very sexy, but picking up trash is such a gratifying way to give back to your community because you make an impact. You make a difference immediately. By the time you're done, that little corner of the world is a little bit nicer than it was before you got there. And what a great feeling.
And it scratched this itch I didn't realize I had, which is that today especially, more and more, you know, the average person can feel really overwhelmed, really hopeless, really helpless. Well, here's something you can do. And is it going to change the world? No. But like I said, it's going to make your corner of the world a little bit nicer. I did not make this up myself, but I love it. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. And I think that's a pretty powerful way to look at the world.
CHANG: That was Mark Remy, a volunteer from Portland, Oregon. You can find more stories of volunteerism in America and share your own story about giving back at npr.org/heretohelp. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
