A Monumental Cleanup On The National Mall

You may have heard how the National Mall is kind of run down or losing its luster. That's why a number of volunteer maintenance workers are taking things into their own hands -- so to speak -- gardening, steam-cleaning and removing goose-poop.

Yes, goose-poop.

Professional pooper-scoopers volunteered to work on the National Mall Thursday, cleaning up goose poop.

"Everyone just wants to help keep America's front yard clean and safe," says Jacob D'Aniello, founder and president of DoodyCalls.

D'Aniello, working with a team of more than a dozen people, removed waste from areas around Constitution Gardens and the Reflecting Pool.

The effort is more than just for aesthetics. Picking up waste along the Chesapeake watershed also helps keep the Chesapeake Bay clean.

"Goose waste is one of the number one contributors for E. Coli in any urban setting," says D'Aniello, "So we're hoping to keep that water cleaner for everybody." Normally D'Aniello and his fellow scoopers are working in people's backyards, with homeowner associations or at apartment complexes.

But not this time.

When he read a letter to the editor from a tourist complaining about conditions on the Mall, D'Aniello says he felt a call to public service.

"We read that, and said, 'Well, what can we do to help? What can we do to make America's front lawn a little bit cleaner and nicer, so when people come and visit they have a great impression of what a great city we have here?'" And there's a lot of work to be done.

"They're very prolific," D'Aniello says. "They're very messy. There's a lot of goose poop here. So we're here to pick it up and keep it out of the waterways so that the water we all drink is clean and safe." D'Aniello knows one day of public service won't keep the mall area clean, but says they will continue to help on an "ongoing basis." "DoodyCalls franchises all across the country always work to help their communities and their local areas. And if this is a way that we can help our local area than it's certainly something that we're all really excited about." (Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.) "Goose waste is one of the number one contributors for E. Coli in any urban setting," says D'Aniello, "So we're hoping to keep that water cleaner for everybody." Normally D'Aniello and his fellow scoopers are working in people's backyards, with homeowner associations or at apartment complexes.

But not this time.

When he read a letter to the editor from a tourist complaining about conditions on the Mall, D'Aniello says he felt a call to public service.

"We read that, and said, 'Well, what can we do to help? What can we do to make America's front lawn a little bit cleaner and nicer, so when people come and visit they have a great impression of what a great city we have here?'" And there's a lot of work to be done.

"They're very prolific," D'Aniello says. "They're very messy. There's a lot of goose poop here. So we're here to pick it up and keep it out of the waterways so that the water we all drink is clean and safe." D'Aniello knows one day of public service won't keep the mall area clean, but says they will continue to help on an "ongoing basis." "DoodyCalls franchises all across the country always work to help their communities and their local areas. And if this is a way that we can help our local area than it's certainly something that we're all really excited about."

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