Pearl River Youth Football Association's Division III Eagles tackle community clean up

St. Tammany News

A group of young football players in Pearl River are tackling more than each other.

For five years now the Pearl River Youth Football Association Division III Eagles have been participating in various community service projects. Called The Clean Team Project, the team of 11- and 12-year-olds started with picking up trash and has gone on to bigger projects every year.

"We began by cleaning up the litter around the area," said Pearl River Alderman Virgil Phillips, the Eagles' coach. "Then the next year we pulled tires out of a swamp, and the year after that we planted crape myrtles along the streets."

For this year's project they completely refurbished James Lavigne Park, located behind the Town Hall on Willis Alley.

They scrubbed graffiti, picked up trash and painted all the equipment, benches and tables in a rainbow of bright hues.

The team also adopted a long stretch of Louisiana Highway 41, from U.S. Highway 11 to Jim's Feed Store, for the Fall Cleanup on Oct. 20.

Phillips said the team began the project as a way to give back to the town, which was the charter sponsor of the league for Recreation District No. 5. The efforts have been well received by parents, who see the projects as a way to instill good habits.

"If one kid quits littering, or decides against writing graffiti, then the project is a success," said Phillips.