HERRIMAN, Utah — An eight-year-old is hoping his gesture of cleaning up the community will inspire more kids to do good.
Jake Grogan is following in the footsteps of his hero, Batman, to become a hero in his own neighborhood.
“This is just the beginning for Jake,” said Whitney Grogan, Jake’s mom.
Whitney says her son has always been inspired by earth day, and combined with his love of Batman, he’s now taking action.
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“Cleaning up graffiti and getting garbage,” said Jake. “We started in Herriman and we went to South Jordan, we want more kids to join so we can do it to the whole state.”
Jake says he noticed a lot of graffiti along a fence in Herriman. He asked his parents if he could clean it up. When a typical cleaning product didn't work, they found a remover specifically for graffiti.
“It feels like they’re pretty much destroying property, because they are,” said Jake Grogan.
Jake says he cleaned for hours and had to leave as it was getting dark. When he went back the next day, someone had finished up the job for him. He says his work has just started. He’s been picking up trash and is hoping to get friends involved to help him clean more areas.
“When we were wiping the wall down, he said, why don’t they just go to the arcade, why don’t they find something fun to do!,” said Whitney.
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Now Jake is hoping he can inspire more kids to channel their own inner Batman.
“I want them to help me out so we can clean the world together and help the environment,” said Jake Grogan.
Since posting about his good deed on Facebook, Jake has received over 700 dollars from community donations, including a donation from Utah Senator Dan McCay. Jake is excited he now has plenty of funds to buy materials for future clean-up projects.
