A community-wide cleanup project organized by Crosby Park Elementary School student Serenity Colbert-Whitelow almost didn’t happen again.
The first cleanup was scheduled for April 26. At the appointed time, tornado sirens were sounding and floodwaters were rising as Lawton received about 5 inches of rain in two hours, resulting in widespread flooding.
“I was sad. I was crying,” Whitelow said of the first cleanup being postponed. “I really wanted it to happen.”
The event was rescheduled for May 10, with not a cloud in the sky. But it was the clouds in the sky the day before that almost resulted in another postponement. Her mother, Marchelle Colbert, earned a bachelor of arts degree in family and childhood studies from Cameron University. She was scheduled to graduate Friday night at Cameron Stadium, but a few hours before graduation, rain was once again falling.
“If it had rained yesterday, graduation would have been this morning,” Colbert said May 10 at the cleanup. “We prayed yesterday and today for clear skies.”
Clear skies is what greeted the 36 volunteers who registered Saturday morning to assist with the cleanup in the Crosby Park neighborhood. The cleanup was the dream of Colbert-Whitelow, who won the Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Day essay contest for elementary school students with the theme “Serving our Planet Through Environmental Action.” The thesis of her essay was “taking care of our planet is one of the most important ways to serve our community.”
“We have one Earth and we need to treat it the right way,” Colbert-Whitelow said in an earlier interview as to why the project is important to her.
The project was important not just to her, but also to her family, who turned out to help cleanup. Her family members included a great-uncle, two aunts, her grandmother, her sister and her mother.
“I’m so proud of her,” her great-uncle Thaddeus Horne said. “She does so much. She is always thinking about doing stuff.”
Her mother was pretty proud also.
“It is awesome,” she said before the cleanup began. “I’m proud of the community for doing this. I’m grateful she is able to get it done with all this rain.”
Her mother said Colbert-Whitelow has always been interested in the environment.
“Her dad died when she was a baby and she has wanted to plant a tree in his memory,” her mother said. “She wrote the King essay. She just ran with it. I asked if she would like to put on a cleanup and she said yes.”
Colbert-Whitelow’s mother sees the project as her daughter’s legacy.
“We are always talking about leaving a legacy,” she said. “My biggest goal before I go is to leave a legacy for my kids. Her legacy has already started. No one will forget about her cleanup.”
Some of the volunteers consisted of parents of Colbert-Whitelow’s friends, including Justin and Bianca Foster.
“We wanted to support Serenity,” Justin Foster said. “She is friends with my daughter. They go to church and to school together. We wanted to make sure it was successful. I saw a lot of trash being picked up in just one hour.”
“Imagine what an impact if each school did it,” Bianca Foster said.
The cleanup project also got a boost from the City of Lawton. Cam Hunyh, inspector with the City of Lawton Stormwater Division, said he was inspired by Colbert-Whitelow’s story and offered to help find volunteers, along with bringing supplies such as trash bags and grabbers. He also offered to haul the trash bags off.
“It is awesome to see the younger generation want to preserve our resources for our children,” Hunyh said. “Serenity is already on it.”
Afterwards, Serenity pronounced the project a success.
“It was fun,” she said. “I got to hang out with my friends and pick up trash at the same time. I enjoyed it. I know I’m doing something good for my community. I’m glad to see so many people showed up to help our community.”
Colbert-Whitelow’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. She recently was the recipient of the Young Achievers Award from the City of Lawton.