On April 17th, the 6-9 group and 9-12 group held the very first Cheverly Kids Care event! 25 kids and assorted parents met at the Cheverly Community Center. After a rousing call and answer of "Do Cheverly Kids Care?" "Yes We Do!", we headed to the Bladensburg Waterfront Park. It was a beautiful sunny spring day and we joined several hundred other volunteers in a well-organized cleanup effort that included rides in motor boats, row boats, and canoes. Kids got muddy and the river and its banks got a little bit cleaner.

Sarah A. (12) and Sarah H. (13) had a great time and would like to do this event again. Their favorite part was jumping from the boat, missing the shore and landing in the water. The oddest thing they found: two soccer balls that they got a kick out of puncturing.

Juel (9), Julian (8), Troy (6) and Aaron (4) cleaned the river from a canoe. They found a bicycle tire and lots of stryofoam. "Approximately 80 billion pieces, we decided. We now believe Styrofoam should be outlawed!"

Jon (age 6) wrote a story and drew a picture about the event. Here's part of his story:
"It was like a jungle. And I was trying to get something, but I couldn't get it because it was way under water, and I couldn't swim. I cleaned up a cup between some rocks.
And I found a pen. I'll bet the rains washed it. The person said if people hadn't left their trash in the first place, we wouldn't have to clean the river up. "

Ann Marie (7) and Stephie (8) got exceptionally muddy. They found many odd shoes and befriended a few slugs and snails. Gennevieve (10) found a doll completely submerged headfirst in the mud and Gabe found a whole coconut!