Volunteers from across the Coastal Bend gathered at the Old Collins Cemetery in Alice on Thursday, October. 30, to clean up years of neglect and overgrown vegetation that had consumed the historic burial ground.
About 20 community members brought lawn mowers, weed eaters and other tools to restore dignity to the cemetery, where household trash had been dumped and graves were hidden beneath tall grass.
The City of Alice removed the dumped household trash before volunteers began their work.
Gilbert Garcia, who has participated in several cemetery cleanups, said people should be ashamed for dumping trash at any cemetery.
"I'd assume that most people that are here - especially the older dated stones - that their relatives are gone as well. So, if we can't be here doing it. Really there's no one else," Garcia said.
Garcia didn't hesitate when asked to help with the cleanup effort.
"Because every person can make a difference even if it's one extra. In the past our numbers were low. So I know that it's hard to get people to come out," Garcia said.
The most emotional moment came when Garcia uncovered the grave of 2-year-old Elizabeth Ann Barton, who died in 1959. He was using a weed eater when he felt concrete beneath his feet and realized he had found her final resting place hidden under years of overgrown grass.
Volunteer Ignacio Carrillo said he doesn't understand how the community doesn't take pride in keeping the cemetery clean.
"It helps the people out here because it's all dirty. It needs cleaning up. And it's better to help out - you know. God will bless you with more," Carrillo said.
Dee Dee Cantu Arismendez wished more people shared the volunteers' commitment to caring for the cemetery.
"It feels wonderful. It feels great that you can see the people out here. That they're coming on their own cause they understand that there's some that don't - no longer have any family members that can come and take care of their plot," Arismendez said.
The volunteers hope to organize more cleanup events for the Old Collins Cemetery in the future.
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