Today’s guest post was written by Sara Rae Lancaster, a personal friend of mine. She is a writer and long-distance runner based in Union Grove, Wisconsin. When she isn’t typing away at her next writing project, you’ll likely find her out on a trail training for her next marathon.

It takes just one big idea to make a change in the world. And sometimes those big ideas come in small packages.

A little over a year ago, six-year-old Sunny Stevenson of Kenosha, Wisconsin approached her mom with an announcement. She made a decision. She wanted to change the world.

A bit curious, mom Jeanette Stevenson dug deeper.

“OK. And how are you going to do that?” she asked Sunny.

“I want to pick up trash.”

It sounds simple, but then again isn’t it sometimes the simplest ideas, the simplest words, the simplest actions that elicit the greatest change?

I first met Sunny back in May. I’d met her mom a few months earlier at a life-coaching workshop and had kept in fairly regular contact with Jeanette since then. Jeanette knew I was a writer who was always looking for new story ideas, so I was more than eager to meet with her and Sunny to hear of the amazing impact this small little girl was having in her community. But I have to be honest. When I arrived at the coffeehouse where we’d agreed to meet, I was a bit surprised to learn that this mover-and-shaker of a kid I’d been told about was really quite petite, shy and soft spoken.

With a little help from her mom, I learned that after Sunny made her big announcement, she immediately took her Mom and younger brother Charlie to a nearby park to pick up trash. It didn’t take long for Sunny to fill her bags, or to realize just how big a challenge this would be. It was going to take a lot more people than just her family.
But instead of feeling defeated, Sunny decided she’d just have to ask more people to help. She started with her friends from school and her Girls Scout troop.

“Once my friend Grace and me were picking up trash, and my mom had to get a big, big bag because there was a lot of trash,” Sunny told me. Jeanette recalled how excited the two girls were to need a larger bag to hold all of their filled bags.

The more trash Sunny picked up, the more she wanted something “cool” to carry her plastic bags with her to the parks. An aspiring artist, Sunny drew what she wanted her bag to look like, including the logo it would display. Playing off of her name, the first draft featured a cartoon-like, smiling sun accompanied by the words, “Pick Up Kenosha for a Sunny Day.”

As a life coach, Jeanette knew the importance of encouraging and supporting Sunny and her idea. She took Sunny’s drawing and made a prototype of the bag using a pillowcase, then contacted the city’s Keep Kenosha Beautiful campaign headquarters.

That phone conversation led to Sunny’s first “business meeting,” held at what would be every kid’s choice location for such a meeting—an ice cream shop. A few follow-up conversations with Keep Kenosha Beautiful and a few local businesses, and the “Sunny Squad” project was ready to clean up the city.

Comprised of Kenosha area, elementary school-aged kids, Sunny Squad members take a pledge to keep their community clean by picking up litter. For a nominal donation, squad members receive a T-shirt sporting the “Sunny Squad” logo (drawn by Sunny) and the phrase—partially written in Sunny’s handwriting—“Keep Kenosha Beautiful for a Sunny Future.” Members also receive a coordinating drawstring backpack that features the logo and phrase, which are used to carry a pair of plastic clean-up gloves and plastic trash bags.

“Sunny Squads” made their debut in June at the city’s Blooming Day Festival. There, the kids not only picked up trash at the festival, but shared Sunny’s story and by encouraged other kids to get involved and sign up.

“I think it definitely makes a statement to see all of these kids out there in their bright yellow shirts and orange backpacks picking up your trash,” Jeanette laughed.

Throughout the summer, Sunny Squads were also spotted at Kenosha Pop Concerts, various city parks and other festivals. But this fall looks like it will prove to be even busier. “Sunny Squads” will hold an event on September 26 to clean up Kenosha’s downtown area and another in October for the uptown area. The program will even be introduced into Kenosha schools this week to foster more awareness, education and involvement.

She may not have said a whole lot when we talked, but Sunny absolutely lights up at the mention of her idea. Ask how she feels about seeing her idea become reality, and she flashes an ear-to-ear smile accompanied by an enthusiastic two thumbs up. In her words, picking up trash with her family and friends makes her happy, but if she were able to see everyone pitching in, “I would be very, very happy!”

So what happens when Kenosha’s all cleaned up? Well, let’s just say Sunny isn’t letting the city limits stop her cause. Right now, she is in the process of writing a letter to the President.

My meeting with Sunny left me feeling hopeful. (As I left I made a mental note to never underestimate the ideas any of my own future children might tell me someday.) But even more, it left me feeling inspired to do my part to make this world a brighter place.

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