Airmen help base, community with clean-up efforts Published Sept. 11, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Airmen teamed up with the city of North Las Vegas to clean an area of the local community Sept. 9, 2012. Fifty-eight volunteers, consisting of Nellis Airmen, military retirees, and Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets, walked along East El Campo Grande Avenue, North Sloan Lane, and Linn Lane, north of Nellis AFB to pick up garbage and debris along the side of the road. Teaming with City of North Las Vegas, who provided logistics equipment for the effort, volunteer group to tackled the endeavor safely and effectively. "We pretty much supplied all of the vehicles for the clean-up such as the heavy equipment and dump trucks," said Kathi Thomas-Gibson, City of North Las Vegas City Management community relations coordinator. "There are mattresses out here and huge pieces of glass that are safety concerns, so we provide the means to pick up that type of debris for safety reasons." Airmen who often make their commute to and from base sometimes pass through the area chosen to conduct the project. "This is a high visibility area. Many people coming off Interstate 215 will take this road to get to the base so this is a road people see often," said 2nd Lt. Dianne Dwyer, 99th Inpatient Squadron clinical nurse. "It's not really much to look at when you're driving on these back roads so it is easy to point out trash that might be piling up on the side. We figured this would be the best place to start up a clean-up program." The partnership of Nellis AFB and the City of North Las Vegas comes natural and the team effort proves successful, said Dwyer. "Dwyer contacted the city and suggested that we partner to do a clean-up of this area and asked if we were interested in helping and, of course, the city said yes," Thomas-Gibson said. "The city is looking at this as a kick-off to have regular interaction of us working together. It's very meaningful because obviously Nellis is one of our big neighbors and one of our big employers, important to the image and identity of the city. It is just natural that we should partner together and it's actually very inspiring to have active-duty personnel care as much about the city as our longer term residents." The morning event is just the first of more possible team partnerships Nellis AFB will take on with the local community. "I think we had a good turnout," Dwyer said. "There were definitely a few last minute snags where we had to do a lot of improvising. Luckily everyone had a good attitude and was excited to help." The project resulted in 20 yards and 40 tons of garbage picked up off the streets within a two-mile stretch of road covered.
