Kalamazoo teens volunteer to help new adopt-a-bus-shelter program

It is not uncommon to find graffiti or destruction at a bus stop in any given area. For those who rely on the bus system as their primary mode of transportation, I imagine that can feel simply degrading. Damage to bush shelters make them more vulnerable to the elements and less of a safe haven for soon-to-be passengers.

To fix this problem, Kalamazoo Teens are adopting and beautifying the bus stop shelters all over Kalamazoo. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

A few weeks ago, somebody shattered the glass at a bus shelter in Kalamazoo’s Edison neighborhood.

It was repaired, and on Wednesday, a group of five Kalamazoo teenagers were vigorously scrubbing the shelter from the benches to the grime-covered roof.

“It’s just good knowing we’re helping somebody out,” said Rickey Pritchett, 16, who swept garbage off the ground with a broom.

The teens were volunteering through a new county adopt-a-bus-shelter program, similar to how others volunteer to pick up trash along highways.

For a few hours a week, volunteers can plant flowers next to bus shelters or shovel snow on sidewalks leading to them in the winter. And there’s plenty of garbage picking and window washing to do.

On Wednesday, the five teens from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kalamazoo teens worked fast, spraying Windex all over the shelter at Mills and Lake streets as 5 o’clock traffic went past.

“As soon as they get out there, they get into it,” said James Varnesdeel, the teen services director at the Boys and Girls Club.

So far, 10 groups, from teens at the Maple Street YMCA to employees with Comstock Township government and the Family Health Center, are tending to 14 shelters in Kalamazoo County.

“It’s not a huge time commitment, but it’s something people can take pride in,” said Michele McGowen, who helps coordinate the program as a partnership between Friends of Transit for Kalamazoo County, Metro Transit and the Kalamazoo County Transit Authority.

The year-round program, just in its first year, will hopefully grow and get more volunteers, McGowen said.

For more information on how to get involved, call McGowen at 269-345-1516, Ext. 116.

Contact Gabrielle Russon at grusson@kalamazoogazette.com or 269-388-8412.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/volunteers_help_keep_bus_shelt.html