TEMPLE, Texas — The New Hope Cemetery in Temple is an area meant to be a final resting place.
"There's weeds. There's trees. There's different things...different elements we have to push away to be able to visit our loved ones," Joshua Hendrson, whose mom is buried at the cemetery, said.
The cemetery had seen better days. The area was overrun with trash, weeds and vines. It caused frustration with some of the visitors.
"It was horrible," Temple resident Mesha Tanner said.
The mess is now a thing of the past after a group of kids picked up the area.
"We are cleaning up," Dadrian Taylor, a Centex Broncos player, said. "Just trying to do good for the cemetery."
The Centex Broncos are a youth football team in Temple. The group and a few volunteers spent Tuesday night picking up trash, pulling weeds and clearing off headstones.
"One of the support systems for youth football is the community," head coach Tray Taplin said. "This is kind of our way of giving back."
Not only did the team learn to help their community, but the program helps keep the players out of trouble.
"They can be looked at other than just athletes. They can be looked at as somebody that cares about the community," said Taplin.
The kids picked up enough trash to fill over a dozen garbage bags and made the area a little more pleasant for Temple residents.
"They are the heart of the city and I'm glad that they are taking part and the parents are taking part of showing them how to be more conservative human beings," Hendrson said.
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