Hundreds of Farmingville residents and day laborers volunteered Saturday to clean up trash in their town. Participants hope the effort will bring their community together.
Farmingville has been a center of controversy in the illegal immigration debate, as residents have often clashed with day laborers, who stand along the streets looking for work.
The clean-up effort, however, has united members of both groups. Some day laborers even gave up a day?s pay to participate.
?It?s not about race, it?s not about immigration,? said Louise Scarola. ?It?s about people working together to clean up the community and make it better and just have pride in where they live.?
The program, which started last week and will run through May, is part of the Keep America Beautiful Campaign. Residents have collected over 700 tons of trash throughout the town so far.