Paxton Community Cleaners!

A New South Shore Company was born last week: Paxton Community Cleaners (PCC).

Formed by a tight knit group of adolescent people who decided they would create their own Summer Jobs, most of the pre-teens live on Paxton, hence the name.

Andrea, Andre, Andrianna (siblings), Sierra, Christine, and Avianna founded the company by making lists of jobs they'd be willing to do for some extra money.
They list things such as gardening, cleaning up outside, landscaping and lawn care (watering & mowing), washing dishes, going for walks with pets and/or humans, cooking, baking, and creating art.

Last week, when approached by the Founders, they created a job of cleaning the area in front of our homes for 4 days, Thursday through Sunday, as well as planting two hostas in my front yard. Using latex gloves we had on hand, the crew helped themselves to recycled trash bags, filled them and disposed of them.

On Sunday, they each recieved $5, a price we'd negotiated beforehand. On Monday, Andrianna, affectionately known as Mommy, asked if they could still work -- they were bored and wanted some constructive focus. We decided that they'd create lists of skills they'd be willing to offer and post them here -- on KISS.

So Neighbors, if you have the ability to support community building and the children in our village, I urge you to do so. You can contact myself, Steve or Carly via email or this blog, or you can fax: 773.435.6326 with your project, contact info, and the type/amount of compensation you're willing to offer. Got a skill your willing to teach? Bring it on. Make your class as formal or informal as you like. Feel like mentoring? The more the merrier. Maybe one day we'll see increased pride in our community through youth leadership initiatives like the Paxton Community Cleaners.

As for potential costs, keep this in mind: When I told 'Mommy' I couldn't afford to 'hire' them for any cleanups this week, she said "That's ok -- you don't have to pay us, we just want something positive to do." and that, my friends, is 'Priceless.'