Daniel Thomas hasn’t been able to shake the image of litter tossed near a creek in Colleyville.
He was cleaning up the area as a part of a Boys Scouts service project. He went home and conducted research.
And committed himself to improving his community.
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52 Faces of Community is a Fort Worth Report weekly series spotlighting local unsung heroes. It is sponsored by Central Market, H-E-B and JPS Health Network.
At the end of the year, these rarely recognized heroes will gather for a luncheon where the Report will announce one honoree to represent Tarrant County at the Jefferson Awards in Washington, D.C.
Six years later, Daniel has prevented more than 45,000 pounds of trash from entering waterways by creating a website that helps people organize litter cleanups. The 17-year-old’s efforts led to his nomination for 52 Faces of Community, the Fort Worth Report’s weekly series spotlighting unsung heroes in Tarrant County.
“It’s not just me,” said Daniel, a senior at Colleyville Heritage High School. “I hope to start a domino effect of where it’s not just doing cleanups, but it’s a bunch of other people to start their cleans and continue the chain forward.”
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Daniel wanted to make picking up litter as easy as possible. However, getting started is not as easy as going outside and grabbing trash.
He had to spend $200 to buy buckets, grabbers, safety gear and, of course, trash bags. He used equipment during the pickups he organized. Eventually, he started to loan out the utensils.
Daniel’s scoutmaster, Tegan Brennan, helped him formulate his plans. Brennan encouraged him to seek donations so he could have more equipment for people to borrow.
“I was just impressed that he was talking to adults like he was one,” Brennan said. “He was just amazing, he could get things done and get people motivated to do them.”
Daniel exudes enthusiasm about the environment and improving his hometown, Brennan said.
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Before Daniel started litter pickups, Brennan recalled the first time he saw the student putting others first. Daniel organized a pie drive for the Colleyville Fire and Police Departments.
“He set the whole thing up. He made posters. He made all the phone calls. He collected the money, went to Costco and bought the pies. He was 11,” Brennan said. “It was just amazing to me the way he started, and then right after that, he got heavily into the environment.”
The environment does not exist in silo, Daniel said. Plastic litter, for instance, can affect water quality, animals and the food everyone eats.
Picking up litter is just one way to see an almost immediate impact, he said.
Daniel’s work has been noticed. He has won awards, including most recently being named a Student Hero by the State Board of Education.
But for Daniel it all comes back to leaving his community cleaner and better.
“He thinks about everybody else first and himself second. I’m really excited to see what he’s going to do next.”
Tegan Brennan, Daniel Thomas’ scoutmaster
“I’ve been doing this for the last six years. It’s really not only impressive, but it is really shocking to me,” he said. “Even I can’t believe it myself that I’ve done all this.”
Brennan, though, knew Daniel would accomplish big things from the moment he saw him organizing a pie drive.
“He thinks about everybody else first and himself second,” Brennan said. “I’m really excited to see what he’s going to do next.”
Daniel is still figuring out where he will go to college. He’s thinking about the University of Texas at Austin or UT-Dallas. But he knows for sure he will study either environmental science or biology.
As he sorts out his future plans, he’s thinking about his legacy.
“What’s next is probably trying to hand off all of my cleanups to the younger generation for them to start their own,” he said. “That way it keeps going as long-lasting domino events.”
And he’s thinking even beyond himself and Colleyville.
“Because this young generation is going to take over one day,” Daniel said, “and they need to know how to responsibly take care of this planet.”
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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