Seniors, veterans in Alamogordo can now get free help to clean up their yard

Seniors and veterans who need help with yard work and other small household projects can now ask for free help via a community request board offered by the City of Alamogordo and Keep Alamogordo Beautiful.

The request board can be accessed online at keepalamogordobeautiful.org.

Requests for help can include weed removal, lawn mowing, garbage disposal, raking leaves, trimming bushes and shrubs.

All of the work is done by a network of volunteers.

Executive Director for Keep Alamogordo Beautiful, Sven Sears said those interested in volunteering can also do so via the request board.

"So far the response has been really good but we're still working on initiatives to get volunteers to take on these requests because we have not had a whole lot of volunteers," Sears said.

Sears said volunteers can also tackle graffiti removal and sidewalk maintenance.

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Sears said the initiative has not gotten a lot of requests for work from the public.

"We have had a couple requests for yard here and there but not too many," he said. "I think it's because we have not really advertised it too much, but we definitely want people to know we are here to help year-round."

Sears said the initiative was based on a similar summer program organized by Commissioner Sharon McDonald.

McDonald said she was glad that the summer clean-ups influenced a larger initiative, and wants wants community members to take advantage when they need the help.

"It's always good when the city can have resources, seniors, disabled veterans or people getting out of the hospital that just need an opportunity to clean up their yards — it's good to have a resource in town that shows a community-wide effort," McDonald said.

"With it being winter, people still need some help taking out some trash or pulling weeds, seniors who can't bend over or need the extra help. It helps build the community and just by letting them know that resources are readily available."

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Free yard work available to Alamogordo seniors, vets