TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo man has given back so much that he holds an honorary title: Mayor of Ottawa Park.
It comes after his efforts of keeping the community safe and clean.
Every single morning, David Clark goes to Ottawa Park with a trash bag and trash grabber in hand and a smile on his face, ready to pick up all the litter.
He even does it during the winter months when it's snowing. Rain doesn't stop him either.
Doing it for nearly 20 years, simply because it brings him joy and comfort.
In the beginning, Clark started walking to get his health in order.
Until the trash started to really bug him.
After telling a friend about it, her response stuck with him: "'What are you doing about it? You walk by that every day, you don't do anything, you're just going to complain about it,'" he said.
That's when Clark grabbed a plastic bag - one he found hanging in a tree, nonetheless - and put it to use. He can fill up more than four trash bags of litter from this park alone.
Clark said all he's doing is contributing to something others have worked hard to improve.
"You know, the people who are working in the trenches here are the people like the Friends of Ottawa Park who had all this done, raised the money to help restore the amphitheater and have the arch put in there," Clark said. "So, big shout out to them."
He said studies show when there's already litter on the ground, people are twice as likely to follow suit. But the same goes for if it's well-kept.
"If a neighborhood looks distressed, it's an invitation to criminals, it's an invitation to crime. If a neighborhood looks neat and cared for like people care about it, it feels safer, it feels more welcoming," he said.
Talking with strangers who turn into friends, losing 30 lbs from walking nearly 5 miles a day and having blood pressure that's never been so good.
Clark said while the park is getting a physical make-over, he's the real winner.
"If people looked at it from my point of view as far as the benefits it confers on me to do this every day, there would be a waiting list of people wanting to be mayor of their local park," Clark said, "especially if they knew how much money I find."
Clark didn't seek this out as a goal to last 20 years.
He just wants to keep the world a beautiful place, picking up one or four trash bags at a time.