By Julie Johansen
Confined to a wheelchair for most of her movement, Donna Beard has taken it upon herself to make her community a better place to live. She started with just a broom, dust pan and a pair of scissors in Salt Lake City. She then moved to Orangeville to be with a friend who was going through cancer treatment, and gave her services to her new home town.
Donna raised her children in Richfield and then found herself single and moved to Salt Lake City for employment. There, she found herself in an office without any windows. Because of her love for outdoors, she decided she needed to find something outside to do, thus the start of her service. She had acquired a few more tools but recently while she was helping a neighbor, the tools were stolen. Many friends and neighbors then helped her and she now has a wagon, blower, weed eater, small shovel, pitchfork and equipment to help her accomplish her goals much faster and easier. She has gone through the Cottonwood Subdivision three times and about to complete rotation number four. She doesn’t just pick up garbage, but weeds, cleans and makes it a better place to live.
When asked about any monetary compensation, she replied that she doesn’t want any, but took a little from a grandma trying to teach grandkids a lesson, as well as from a grandpa who was teaching about appreciation for service.