Chancy J. Gatlin-Anderson
Special to Colorado Community Media
April 27 was Big Help Day for Elizabeth High School, a yearly event designed for students to give back to their community and surrounding areas. There were 597 students who carried out various service projects from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Student Council organizes the EHS Big Help Day each year. According to Summer Katzoff, EHS physical education teacher and faculty Student Council representative, students were volunteering at 36 different locations on Big Help Day.
Notable locations included:
Elizabeth Cemetery
Elizabeth Public Works
Elizabeth Park & Rec
Elizabeth Animal Hospital
Elizabeth Library
Elizabeth Police (road cleanup on Highway 86)
Jill’s Feed
Running Creek Elementary
Singing Hills Elementary
Gabriel Foundation
Elizabeth Presbyterian Church
True Value
Legacy Academy
Elizabeth Middle School
Access Gym
Chalk Box
Local ranches
Kiowa Fire Department
Town of Castle Rock
Goodwill
Castlewood Canyon State Park
“We do Big Help Day every year, but this is the first year we’ve done it since COVID,” said freshman Molly Smith. “Everyone in the school goes to a different place to support our community. Some people clean horse stalls, some go volunteer at Goodwill, lots of places.”
The Elbert County News caught up with the Elizabeth Police Department and Elizabeth High School students working to clean up Highway 86 east of Main Street. Of the nearly 600 EHS volunteers, 10 were present at the cleanup with one faculty representative.
Students, police officers and local resident volunteers sported bright yellow reflective vests, huge orange trash bags, wooden pokers and plastic grabbers as they made their way west from County Road 21 toward downtown Elizabeth.
On their trek, the students, officers and volunteers found a variety of trash including countless cigarette butts, beer cans and snack wrappers. One student discovered an intact set of jumper cables while another found a large, wheeled cart. Remains of several deer were also found scattered along the road.
“Hopefully people notice that there’s some of us in the community that really care about what our roadways look like,” said resident volunteer Patricia Sizemore. “When I moved out here six years ago, there wasn’t trash like this. It’s sad. It’s important that people understand that keeping Elizabeth clean is crucial. I like to help because even little steps matter.”
The Elizabeth Police Department partners with the Colorado Department of Transportation to help clean up Highway 86 from CR 21 to Garland Street several times a year.
“We want to make our town and community presentable,” said EPD officer Jason Rogers. “We do everything we can to make sure we take care of it.”
To volunteer for future EPD cleanup days, call the department at 303-646-4664 for more details.
