OPEN, UNMANNED PARKS TRASHED - Visitors left overflowing trash in campsites, bringing wildlife in for food to areas where animals would not previously visit. They actually did #1 and #2 on the sides of the roads in National Parks - How disgusting! They tossed trash in the parks. They went off-roading into protected areas and destroyed them. You can read about it on-line.HERE
SO WHO HELPED CORRECT IT? Some Muslim Youth Groups in the U.S. The very group of people that the Conservatives are trying to make U.S. citizen fear and hate. Muslim kids organized and went to National Parks and cleaned up the disgusting TRASH left behind by Christian people. Don't expect anyone with a MAGA hat out there cleaning the parks. Just saying.Here's the story.
(photo: Volunteers Alexandra (R) and Ruth Degen prepare to clean a restroom at Joshua Tree National Park on January 4, 2019 in Joshua Tree National Park, California.Credit:CNN)
Muslim Youth Group Helps Clean National Parks Amid Government Shutdown
(CNN)On a rainy Saturday in Philadelphia, as the partial government shutdown continued, volunteers picked up trash outside Independence Hall, birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Across the country, dozens of their colleagues in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association were doing the same at national parks closed or partially closed by the shutdown. They cleaned up litter, emptied garbage cans and swept the grounds -- from the Everglades National Park in Florida to Joshua Tree, California and the Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio.
The group hit the National Mall in Washington on Sunday morning.
"Service to our nation and cleanliness are important parts of Islam," said Dr. Madeel Abdullah, president of youth group, in a press release. "We could not sit idly by as our national parks collected trash. We will lead by example and dispose of this garbage appropriately and invite all Americans to join us in these parks and others across the nation."
Group members were joined by people from the general public who contacted the group through social media, spokesperson Salaam Bhatti told CNN, adding that the response to their efforts has been "overwhelmingly positive."
Bhatti said members regularly participate in community cleanups, carried out as part of their faith. The group has logged almost 200,000 hours in clean-up projects since 2016, according to Bhatti.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association is the largest of its kind in the US, with more than 70 chapters and 5,000 members, all males aged 7 to 40.
Bhatti said more than 60 percent of Americans do not personally know a Muslim, and community efforts like these increase dialogue with members of other religious groups.
Muslim youth group members help clean up national parks during the government shutdown.
"I hope it shows that we're not here just to talk about Islam the whole time," Bhatti said. "We're here to be part of America."
National Parks have been largely closed to the public since the shutdown began December 22. In a press release Sunday, the National Park Service said it had "explored a number of options to address the maintenance and sanitation issues that have arisen at a number of highly visited parks," and will now use fee revenues to clean up trash and restrooms.
"We are taking this extraordinary step to ensure that parks are protected, and that visitors can continue to access parks with limited basic services," the statement said.
Bhatti told CNN that if the shutdown continues, they will be looking for other national parks to help clear and for more ways they can help community members affected by the shutdown.
