Community rallies to clean trash from elderly couple's yard

Robert and Ann Dobson have lived in the same house in Greece, New York for 50 years. Last week, they received their first ever citation from the town - for excessive trash in their yard. The notice threatened the octogenarians with legal action if the mess was not cleaned up in five days. 

Problem is, it's not their trash. They live near a large shopping plaza, and trash blows across the street and into their yard continuously. Add to that trash thrown from car windows on the busy road and it's easy to see how fast the garbage could accumulate. 

Over the years, the Dobsons have tried to keep up with the litter, enlisting help of family members when needed. But the citation was the last straw. The Dobsons' shared their story with local Rochester-area media. 

The response was overwhelming. 

Many citizens demanded action by the owners of the shopping plaza, specifically to install locks on their dumpsters. Others, including a cross-country team from McQuaid Jesuit High School, picked up trash for the elderly couple. They were joined by a number of volunteers who installed a fence to keep future trash from blowing into the Dobson's yard.