A young man in Northeastern England has acquired a unique pastime—one that has earned him praise from his community. Elliot Gordon, an 18-year-old who happens to be on the autism spectrum, spends his free time picking up trash around Stockton and neighboring areas. On top of becoming a bit of a local celebrity, people have now rallied around the young man to thank him for his work.
It all began four years ago, when Gordon’s parents got him a dog to prompt him to get out of the house. Unfortunately, the pug they got didn’t enjoy walking that much. While Gordon waited for the pooch to move, he noticed a can on the ground and decided to pick it up. “It just sort of snowballed from there,” his dad, Craig Gordon, told the BBC. “Even if there’s like a tiny little bit, like a speck of rubbish, it has to be picked up and put in the bag. He couldn’t just walk away and leave it.”
Gordon, who is also non-verbal and has OCD, always wears his smartwatch to track how many steps he walks a day. “One day he said ‘oh, 45,000.’ That’s a typical day’s litter picking for him,” the teen’s dad shares. He picks up trash every single day, rain or shine. On weekdays, he’s out cleaning up streets before and after school; and on weekends, his parents report not being able to keep him in. “Even Christmas Day he was out litter picking,” his parents say.
Among the people who have noticed Gordon’s efforts is Zoe Farley, who lives nearby and didn’t know the family personally. “I’m sure a lot of us have seen Elliot in our community being utterly selfless and making our neighborhoods a cleaner and better place,” Farley told Teesside Live. “I thought I’d reach out to you all to see if we can have a collection and say a great big thank you to Elliot and give him a little treat from us all.”
Farley decided to set up a fundraising campaign to raise some pocket money for Gordon, but never expected to raise thousands of British pounds. “When I showed him the screen, he was over the moon, he just has a huge smile on his face. So many people have donated, we are absolutely blown away by everyone’s generosity,” the teen’s mom said back when only £1,600 had been raised. As of writing, people have donated £5,090.
With Gordon starting college in September, he’ll use the money to buy a new laptop—and any other equipment he may need in his mission to turn this his hobby into a career in waste management. You can support him by donating to his GoFundMe page.
Elliot Gordon, an 18-year-old who happens to be on the autism spectrum, spends all his free time picking up trash—even on weekends and Christmas.
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Sources: The litter picker who earned a shock ‘thank you;’ Grateful residents’ gratitude to ‘selfless’ autistic teen who has cleaned the streets for years
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