Volunteers needed for Juneteenth Cemetery Cleanup in Carrollton

Volunteers in North Texas are needed for an upcoming service project and community event in honor of Juneteenth. Nonprofit organization, Christ Community Connection, is hosting a cemetery cleanup on Saturday, June 15, 2024.

The project will be held at the Carrollton Historical Black Cemetery located at 1535 West Beltline Road. Cleanup begins at 8:00 A.M. Organizers ask that volunteers bring paintbrushes, rakes, large garbage bags, weed eaters, and shovels.

“After a Google search for National Black Cemeteries in our area, I found the Carrollton Cemetery and connected with the ground’s keeper and native resident, Reverend Willie Rainwater,” said Linda Williams, who has been to the event many times. “This will be my third year of service with him in the annual clean-up and restoration of this historical site and celebration of Juneteenth. Once threatened by new development, the site is a record of the early history of Carrollton and it is a great opportunity to serve, celebrate Juneteenth and learn the history of the city’s early black settlers.”

Juneteenth marks the day, June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed. It honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. Texas officially declared Juneteenth a State Holiday in 1980. It was declared a Federal Holiday in 2021.

Following the cemetery cleanup there will be a special Juneteenth program at 10:30 a.m. It will include poems, dance performances, speeches, and awards for outstanding “Black American Trail Blazers.”

For more information on how you can volunteer go to www.justserve.org