Join a clean-up tribute in memory of 9-year-old planet hero

Nine-year-old Amelia Meyer captured the nation’s attention when she asked for a trash clean-up and recycling event for her “Make A Wish.” Her battle with brain cancer ended October 26, and in her memory, her family is organizing an Amelia Trash Clean-Up following her funeral on Saturday, November 5.

The public is invited to the cleanup at 3 p.m. in Macken Park, 715 East 21st Ave., Kansas City, MO.

In February when Amelia was told she was chosen as a Make A Wish recipient, she could have asked for something big – like a family trip to Disney World or a computer. But according to her mother, Jill Meyer, Amelia wasn’t interested in any of those gifts. She wanted to make a difference in the world, and she was concerned about all the litter and trash around the city. She and her grandmother had been taking regular walks and picking up trash since Amelia’s diagnosis.

Make-A-Wish, a non-profit organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, coordinated several local clean-up events. Kansas City Mayor Sly James gave Amelia a mayoral proclamation declaring February 27, 2016 as “Amelia Meyer’s Take Care of the World Day,” and a park bench was commissioned in her honor in Macken Park.

The little Kansas City girl’s story went viral. It was picked up by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, The Ellen Show, Inside Edition and many TV stations. A Twitter campaign had people all over the country posting photos of their own events to help give Amelia her wish. The budding environmentalist had inspired a nation to clean up the Earth for a day. But people kept responding, and more events were organized.

At the time, Amelia’s mother said she wasn’t surprised by her daughter’s wish.

“Amelia has been so incredibly brave, tough and positive through all of this,” she said in February. “I always thought she was a pretty awesome kid, but now I am in absolute awe of her. She amazes me with her wise beyond her years outlook, and it makes me very happy when she has those silly eight-year-old moments. She has never been a kid who has asked for much and getting stuff doesn’t really excite her, but this is something that does.”

From the publisher: Greenability Weekly encourages supporters of Amelia’s wish to continue clean-up and recycling efforts and post their photos in Amelia’s honor on Twitter using the hashtag #AmeliasWish and #GreenabilityMag. Read the original Greenability Weekly story about Amelia here.