CONTACT: Jess Mears, Membership Manager: jess.mears@lp.org or (202) 750-0892
To show their commitment to voluntarism, members of the Libertarian Party organized a trash cleanup of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. National parks have been largely neglected because of the partial federal government shutdown, leading to widespread media coverage. Forty volunteers helped out, collecting more than 20 bags of trash left by visitors to the National Mall since the shutdown.
“As Libertarians, we advocate replacing federal taxpayer funding for many services with private charity or privatization,” said Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas Sarwark. “We wanted to show how this could be accomplished by volunteering in our local communities. We know that people are inherently generous with their time and energy. We want to set an example by calling on the public to join us in maintaining our beautiful parks and landmarks this weekend and throughout the government shutdown.”
Cleanups have been scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 12 at the following national parks:
- Angeles National Forest
- Apollo Beach Visitor Center at Canaveral National Seashore
- Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
- Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
- Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
- John Muir National Land Trust & Historic Site
- Lake Mead National Recreation Area
- Minuteman National Historic Park
- National Mall
- Petroglyph National Monument
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Shiloh National Military Park
- Tuskegee National Forest
- Yorktown Battlefield Colonial National Historical Park
- Yosemite National Park
More events are being organized, and organizers are available for interviews. For event dates and times, please visit the map or view a spreadsheet.
The National Mall trash cleanup coverage has been viewed more than 300,000 times on a video shared by NowThis, which was produced by News2Share.
The stubborn partisanship of both Democrats and Republicans is responsible for the gridlock in Congress and the suffering of furloughed federal employees. The Libertarian Party stands for practical solutions for society’s challenges, such as friends and neighbors who help pick up trash when government can’t or won’t. The Libertarian Party will run hundreds of candidates for office in 2019 and invites Americans from all backgrounds to join us in our common-sense approach to politics.
