Photos courtesy of OlyCAP

In a local cleanup effort, volunteers threw away the trash equivalent of an SUV for a struggling Sequim single mother.

On Nov. 21, 11 tons of trash and unusable items left in her yard following a relationship breakup were taken from Joan Dickerson’s home within the Sequim city limits.

Neighbors had complained, leading the city of Sequim to partner with DM Disposal and Olympic Community Action Programs to organize the pickup. 

More than 20 agency volunteers, Dickerson and her neighbors loaded four 30-yard containers.

Danielle Harrelson, customer service representative for DM Disposal, said most of the items on Dickerson’s property could not be sold due to being rotten, rusted or no good but most of the metal on appliances and furniture was recycled.

DM donated the dumping fee of more than $1,000 because Dickerson could not afford it and she was left with the junk. The staff also held a food drive for Dickerson and donated Thanksgiving dinner and gift cards for local grocery stores. OlyCAP is helping her with other services through their programs.

DM sponsored a similar cleanup in Port Townsend earlier this year.

Kent Kovalenko, DM district manager, said these types of mass cleanups are not common, but it is an area the company is looking to explore.

“This is something we are going to look to do more, a few times a year if there is a need for it in the community,” he said. 

At the cleanup, three neighbors helped with sorting and removal of items.

Kovalenko said this was encouraging because often neighbors don’t want to put gloves on and help their next-door neighbor.

For more information on OlyCAP services, call 452-4726 or see www.olycap.org.
For more information on DM Disposal, call 452-7278 or see www.murreysdisposal.com.