KANSAS CITY, Mo. — To help beautify Kessler Park, more than a dozen people gathered to clean up portions of the park from Independence Avenue to Lexington Avenue on Sunday.
Several groups including Just People Doing Good Things and Clean Up Kessler Park joined members of the Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation Department.
"Obviously, this park is huge and needs a lot of help so we just kind of got started,” said organizer Houston DeFoe. "We’re trying to establish a place that people want to come and hang out and want to have fun.”
Kessler Park spans more than 300 acres, however hidden in the landscape is trash.
"Toiletries, food wrappers, we’ve found home equipment,” DeFoe said.
Beyond the trash, there also are homeless camps on the land.
"We’re trying to help the homeless and also relocate them out of the park,” DeFoe said, “and so that’s a whole other side to what we’re trying to achieve here.”
This problem is not new, but has drawn more attention as people like first-time volunteer Joy Cuezze join the effort.
"It’s just kind of sad,” she said. “All the dumping that occurs, we’ve been doing a lot of hiking in the Kansas City area and we just see dumping on all the Kansas City trails.”
This clean up was a surprise to people who live near the park.
"Came out of the backyard and saw all these people,” said Brevan Woydziak, who lives near Kessler Park.
This event inspired him to pitch in someday.
"I think it’s amazing,” Woydziak said. “I want to be a part of it and I see things like this and it inspires me to lend a hand.”
It’s this work that volunteers hope will change a culture.
"What we really need is for people to change the outlook on what they’re doing with their trash,” DeFoe said.
The groups want more park rangers near Kessler Park and Cliff Drive to prevent illegal dumping in the area. The groups also plan to host more clean ups in the area.
