Mayer students lend hand to senior in need

A group of agriculture students from Mayer High School recently reached out to a community member in need.

In late August, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a welfare check for a Mayer resident. After determining the 76-year-old female resident was OK, deputies learned she was frustrated with attempts to clean her yard and embarrassed with the way it looked.

The lead deputy offered to contact Mayer High School and see if students would be willing to come by for a clean-up project, according to YCSO spokesperson Dwight D’Evelyn.

On Sept. 12, agriculture class teacher Douglas Martin, and senior students in his first period class, arrived ready to work and removed all brush and trash from the resident’s yard.

The students' efforts resulted in the collection of 22 large yard bags and two trailer loads of material.

“The sheriff’s office thanks Mayer High School’s staff and students for their dedication,” D’Evelyn said. “The resident stated she would be very grateful if this could be done. The deputy met with Mayer Schools' Superintendent Dean Slaga about the request and he suggested students involved in the agricultural program might be interested.”

Martin arranged for a truck and trailer and the students agreed to weeding, trimming and a complete cleanup of the yard.

The only concern was where the material would be dumped.

The deputy went to the Yavapai County Mayer Transfer Station and received permission from Yavapai County Public Works Director Dan Cherry to dump the landscape materials at no charge.

Information provided by Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.