Local businesses clean trailhead on Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Nearly a dozen employees with the Taos branch of Nusenda Credit Union gathered to clean up the El Nogal Trailhead on NM 64 Monday morning (Oct. 10) for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which Nusenda treats as a day off for its staff.
Nusenda partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico and the Taos Mountain Bike Association to bring the volunteers out and raise awareness about littering at local trailheads, including nearby trails South Boundary and Divisadero. Illegal camping is another problem at these popular outdoor sites, contributing to the trash problem, said Spencer Bushnell with the Taos Mountain Bike Association.
Amy Nigrelli, chief marketing officer with Nusenda, was onsite Friday to aid the local employees in their cleanup efforts. “Since 2017, we’ve taken Indigenous Peoples’ Day and made it a day to give back,” she explained. “We have 12 projects all across the state — projects from Española, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, all the way down to Las Cruces — and they’re all really focused on the environment and cleanup this year.”
She said on Friday they brought around 375 people together to help with various environmental cleanup efforts throughout New Mexico.
Bianca Delgado, director of events and engagement with Big Brothers Big Sisters, said she was glad the organizations were able to collaborate on the cleanup. “Nusenda is one of the most amazing credit unions and banks that we’ve worked with,” Delgado said. “They’ve been a long-time supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and they’ve made a lot of things possible.”
She added that all of the money and efforts brought in through
Nusenda usually stay in the community, which she sees as a positive aspect. “All the money they donate or all the efforts they do within Taos always stays in Taos when it comes to Big Brothers Big Sisters, so that’s really great.”
She said Big Brothers Big Sisters was involved because their program’s participants will also use the trailhead as a gathering space. “We’ve had our ‘littles and bigs’ say that they use this area — that this is one of the common places that they come to do some mentoring together or outdoor activities.”
Bonnie Golden, with the Taos Mountain Bike Association, said her group became involved after Delgado asked her about areas most in need of cleaning up. “It looks pretty clean right now, but there’s stuff in there,” Golden said.
“This parking lot gets a lot of overnight camping, even though it’s illegal, so there’s a lot of refuse that ends up out in the trees and around the lot,” Bushnell said, explaining where the volunteers should start.
“Big” Johnny Hughes and “Little” Danny Hart also showed up at the event to represent Big Brothers Big Sisters, which Hughes said he has been working with for about a year. He was just paired up with Hart two weeks ago, and the cleanup event was the pair’s fourth outing together.
“I thought I was gonna have to drag him down in there doing the cleanup, but he’s already in there with both feet,” Hughes said of Hart’s participation as he pointed to
Hart picking trash out of the flowing Rio Fernando de Taos.
Hughes said he was there to “clean up, spend some time with my little brother and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
The event ended after the crew reached the spring along NM 64, about half-a-mile east of their starting point.