The Brightside: Honoring parents and cleaning up Delmarva

SALISBURY, Md. – 47 ABC first introduced you to Craig Faunce back in October of 2020, when the new Salisbury resident started posting daily pictures and videos of himself picking up trash all across the city, sparing no street or neighborhood.

“When you’re out and people stop and say thank you, and beep their horn, it just gives you a good feeling,” Craig said.

Since then, he hasn’t stopped.

“I usually meet people here at the Walgreens parking lot at 11:15 if someone is going to come out, it’s like 50/50, sometimes people do, sometimes they don’t,” Craig said.

While his cleaning efforts aren’t anything new, one thing is: a foundation based on his work, named after his parents. It’s a place where people can get involved, donate, or simply find community.

“We wanted to do something, kind of in honor of my parents who passed away this past year, so we just named it after them,” Craig explained.

He says his parents gave him nothing but happy memories and the drive to help his community in any way he can. It’s that message, that passion for helping, that drives Craig to get his trash bags and gloves out every day and start cleaning. From his parents to him, the mission of helping your neighbor hasn’t stopped, as Craig has gotten a handful of people involved in Salisbury, including Michelle Nelson.

“You see trash around, but until you really get involved, and really start noticing, you don’t see the extent of the problem,” Michelle said.

Craig says after losing his parents, meeting people like Michelle has made Salisbury feel like home to him.

“You meet people, and I’ve got some really nice friends here, and I didn’t know anyone here,” he said.

As for whether he has any plans for packing up the trash bags and calling it quits any time soon, Craig says absolutely not.

“I can’t stop… it’s too… it’s hard to explain, but once you start, it’s very difficult to stop because you know you’re making a difference,” he said.

Craig says even though he’s focused on Salisbury so far, he does want to branch out to other towns and make this a mission to clean up all of Delmarva.

If you’re interested in pitching in or donating to the cause, you can visit the foundation’s website.