Disabled Man's Mission: Keep Urbandale Clean

Having a lifelong crippling illness doesn't give you a pass on the obligation to help others.

That's how Monte Halferty sees it. 

Halferty, 45, of Urbandale, was born with cerebral palsy. He walks with crutches and leg braces around his home and uses a wheelchair when out for a long time. For the past eight years, Halferty has been rolling his wheelchair up and down the recreational trails and sidewalks of Urbandale picking up trash

"I really enjoy being outdoors and I wanted to do this as a way to give back to the Earth and to Urbandale's trails," he said.

On any given day, residents driving by the city government complex on 86th Street, one of Urbandale's busiest thoroughfares, can see Halferty meticulously picking up trash in front of .

"He just has a passion for Urbandale's parks and trails," said Jan Herke, the city's parks and recreation director. 

"Hopefully, if enough people see me, they'll decide not to throw trash out of their car," said Halferty.

That's the other thing about Halferty - he's unflaggingly positive and optimistic.
Take the time he was doing his thing in front of and someone drove by, rolled down their window and threw a wad of paper right at him.

Most people might have a few choice words for someone who seems to be flaunting their littering habit so purposefully.  Halferty said he wondered about the person's motives for half a second, but then he "admired their aim" that they'd be able to land the paper right at his feet so he could reach it. 

When he picked up the paper, he unfolded it and saw that it was a dollar bill. His thought: that's one very kind person.

Halferty lives in an apartment complex connected to one of Urbandale's most popular recreational trails near the city complex. He began traveling the trails for exercise, but then he started picking up trash along the way.

"People just expect our parks and trails to be clean and nice," he said. 

Halferty spends hours almost every day, picking up even the tiniest bits of trash and stuffing them into two plastic bags he carries. He's tipped his wheelchair over a couple of times trying to reach for trash off the trail.

Even when he hasn't fallen, sometimes motorists on 86th Street become concerned when they see him on the grass leaning out of his chair.

"The police department gets calls about me all the time," he joked. "I'm on a first-name basis with them."

In fact, Urbandale Sgt. Gary Lang bought Halferty a grabber to make it easier for him to pick up trash, he said.

Lang said Halferty actually wore the grabber out and had to buy another one.

"The guy does an incredible service picking up trash. He picks up stuff that otherwise would not get picked up," he said.

Pretty soon, it will get too cold and icy for Halferty to safely stay out to pick up trash, so he'll suspend his avocation until spring. Then there will be three months of trash to catch up with when the trails are free of ice.

So the next time you're walking an Urbandale trail and you see some litter, pick it up. And think of Monte. 

Have you seen Monte out on his rounds?