Local efforts will make a difference

By the Journal Editorial Board | Wednesday, November 19, 2008

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Last week, in the midst of the noisy election, something quieter was taking place in a north Rapid City neighborhood. It didn’t effect as many people or generate the heated   exchanges the election did and yet, in one community, it will make a real difference.

In north Rapid City, a group of students, law enforcement and residents banded together to cover up the signs of a community under siege — gang graffiti.

Led by North Middle School  Principal Jeanne Burckhard and Sam Brumbaugh, liaison for schools with the Pennington County Sheriff’s   Department, a large group of  students and others spent the day painting over gang graffiti in the area around College Park.

A little paint won’t put an end to graffiti; it won’t put an end to gang activity. What it will do is offer the community a bright spot to rally around — the knowledge that there is a combined effort to clean up the neighborhood and put an end to gang activity and the damage it does.

A little bit of paint is a sign the community cares.

The project doesn’t come without  several people’s effort and organization. Seeing an increase in gang violence, an anti-gang group formed by Brumbaugh — the Guardian Eagles — gives kids opportunities that don’t involve gangs. Burckhard spearheads countless projects and activities and, a group of Rapid City attorneys   developed Operation Nest Egg that provides funding for the students ($1 an hour) who help with the painting.

No one is getting rich — the students helping receive more good will and pride in caring for their community than money — but everyone with a hand in the project is making a difference and we’re glad to see it taking place in Rapid City.

Cleaning up an area is a sign the people there care. If the people care, the thinking goes, it’s less likely that crime and anti-social behavior will get a foothold and overwhelm the residents and law enforcement.

Cleaning up gang graffiti could be a full time job but it doesn’t appear the organizers aren’t planning this to be anything but an ongoing effort. That’s good. That effort could lead to a reduction in the problems faced by that community.

It’s important for that community-minded effort take place because a community can only deteriorate if the people who live there let it. In north Rapid City, it doesn’t look like they’re ready to give the neighborhood over just yet.