Elma Goodwin is known in DeSoto for being an active member of the community in many facets.
Goodwin is a San Augustine native and moved to DeSoto in 1986 in a period she referred to as the African American migration.
After noticing excess trash along routes she would traverse as an avid walker, Goodwin decided to find a solution to the issue.
In this Q&A, we learn more about her initiative, the Trash Avengers, why she decided to create it and its expansion throughout DeSoto.
Q. Is the Trash Avengers your creation or a group effort? How long have you been doing this? Why that specific name and what is the purpose of the trash avengers?
Trash Avengers grew out of necessity. I am an avid walker, walking an average of 400k steps monthly. As I walked, I was noticing an uptick of trash and began to pick it up. At the same time, I began to see comments on Nextdoor about trash in other areas.
At the time, I was on the HOA board of directors serving my third time. I suggested that we start a neighborhood group to pick up trash. I led the effort soliciting community members that resulted in 20 residents, including board members, signing on. The group also includes councilwoman Crystal Chism. On August 17, 2020, during Covid, we held the kickoff meeting in front of my home.
Speakers included Mayor Curtistene McCowan. Given our mission of eradicating trash, I recommended the name of Trash Avengers. This phase of the project also included applying for the city’s matching grant for no trash signage to be placed strategically throughout the neighborhood.
Q. You’re retired from what I have been told so you don’t have to work again if you don’t want to. What is it you want the community to take from the Trash Avengers initiative?
When I thought of the Avenger initiative, my vision was for it to catch on and spread to other neighborhoods. I have shared and continue to share this vision with the mayor and other city leaders who have been very supportive.
I seize every opportunity to discuss Avenger and appeal to other neighborhoods to do the same. Just recently, I had an opportunity to discuss Avenger’s on Matt Smith’s weekly Facebook segment. Avengers is just one piece of the puzzle in dealing with trash. The other puzzle pieces include city-wide signage, ongoing intentional marketing to appeal to all to stop trashing.
Q. How often do you/your group help to clean up DeSoto? What locations do you specifically tackle?
The group is comprised of walkers and we pick up trash daily. We also join the city in its once-monthly trash efforts. A couple of weeks ago, a resident stopped me to compliment the Avengers’ work. After walking away, I realized I missed an opportunity to invite her to join the group.
The next day when I was walking I saw her again and made the ask. She said yes and she has hit the ground running. I believe that much of the success of this project and all others in which I have been involved has to do with my past work in the neighborhood and city and the fact that I am not afraid to get my hands dirty for a worthwhile cause.
Q. Anything you would like to add to this discussion, please do.
DeSoto is a great place to live and play. In order to keep it that way, we need more boots on the ground. With enough people working to keep our city clean and with the elimination of trashing, the impact on any one individual would be minimal. It doesn’t take much to start and maintain an Avenger group. In fact, I believe, that often people will participate if someone takes the initiative to lead.
My motivation for self-help comes from a fable we read when I was in elementary school where the people in the city were so spoiled that they relied on the king for the simplest of things. To test them, he placed a pot of gold in the middle of the street and covered it with a pile of rocks. The townspeople complained about the pile and continued to drive around it until one day one citizen decided to move the pile where he found his pot of gold. We have a pot of gold in our city, we just have to take a little effort to maintain its beauty.
To learn more about the Trash Avengers, contact Elma Goodwin at 972-841-4841.
