JOINT MULTINATIONAL READINESS CENTER, Germany – Soldiers of the Mustang Team with the Joint Multinational Readiness Center and their Family members worked with their partner city Lupburg, Germany to clean the hill around the town’s castle June 6, 2023.
The Lupburg Fruit and Horticulture Association had noted the state of castle hill, where litterers had thrown or dumped their garbage, and the Mustangs took the opportunity to improve the off-post community they work with.
The mayor of Lupburg, Manfred Hauser, expressed his thanks to the Mustangs and all the participants who took part in cleaning up the hill.
"Without their help, we would not have achieved our goals," he said. "All together, Lupburgers and the Mustangs, have made sure that our castle hill is beautiful again. In addition, awareness of environmental issues has been raised in our community."
Erin Avera, a Family member of the Mustang team, took part in the clean-up with her children and husband. She is also a resident of Lupburg and took part "to make connection to the community we live in, to see what the back side of the castle looks like.
As part of the partnership program, units within JMRC partner with different towns in the vicinity of the training area.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for us as a Family and for me individually to see some fo the members of our small little Lupburg town and get to reach them in their town," Avera said.
The members of the Mustang team, both Soldiers and Families, picked up from the hillside all that did not belong: pieces of glass, shards of pottery, animal bone remnants, an abandoned suitcase. After clearing the hill of litter, they cut and dragged brush down the hillside.
Avera said their children enjoyed themselves, and the event helped open her children's eyes to both environmental issues and the importance of the town itself.
"What brought it all full circle for us, after we did the community service, the town provided lunch," she said. "We could sit and have a conversation with [the community members] and learn about the town of Lupburg. We also walked around the perimeter where they have the placards that show what the castle used to look like, what the berg used to look like, and then how
it's changed over time, and they sat and explained that to us as well."
Avera further said the event emphasized the importance of the town and that "whether it be here in Germany or there in America, that we take pride in the communities we take part in."
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