Church volunteers clean trash out of field near Ephrata

EPHRATA — A field just outside Ephrata looks a little better after volunteers swept through it Saturday morning.

“A lot of people come into (Ephrata) on Nat Washington Way,” said Lowell Allred, who organized the cleanup for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “There’s often a lot of paper and plastic and cardboard blown over into that field.”

More than 20 volunteers came to the field at the northeast corner of Nat Washington Way and State Route 282, said Alberto Rodriguez, one of the participants.

“We got a whole pickup truck (full),” Rodriguez said. “And then we picked up a whole bunch more. We probably got a good truck and a half out of it.”

“There was more garbage out there than I realized,” Allred said.

This isn’t the first time church members have tackled that particular field, Allred said. Members cleaned up that same field last year, and about five or six years ago as well, he said.

“It seemed to me to be unsightly as we come into town,” Allred said. “I hate to see garbage on the side of the highways and I’m glad people pick that up once in a while … I don’t like to see the works in a mess, so we like to keep it a little bit (cleaner).”

The volunteers Saturday spent about two hours cleaning all the way from SR 282 to St. Rose Catholic School, Rodriguez said.

Allred said the church members plan to do more cleanup projects.

“This is the 250th anniversary of our nation,” he said. “I’m looking for projects to do to show appreciation for our Founding Fathers and love for our country.”

    Volunteers removed one and a half pickup loads from the area along Nat Washington Way between SR 282 and St. Rose Catholic School Saturday morning.