Pay It 4ward: Neighbor thanks veteran for cleaning up Albuquerque community

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Every neighborhood has its own challenges, but some are lucky enough to have someone willing to tackle them. The Supper Rock neighborhood in far northeast Albuquerque is one of those lucky ones.

Tonight, KOB 4 helps Pay It 4ward to the man using a scooter and a trash picker to make the neighborhood a much better place.

Some would call a couple of wheelies at 66 years old impressive, but Tom Garcia calls it just another Tuesday afternoon in his neighborhood.

“This is my rig, this is my trash picker here, then this is my bag, my e-cig holder, and this here- this is here on purpose his name is Scarfy. Scarfy is entertainment for the children and all my friends with dogs,” said Garcia. 

Garcia uses his rig on a daily basis to keep his neighborhood trash free, beautiful, and safe.

“All I do is I drive from I-40 to Lomas, this entire grid. In nine months of what I do I have 2,400 miles on that,” said Garcia. 

And his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed – neighbors like Pete Rhyins appreciates it.

“He could probably do a lot of other things with his time, but this is something he’s really– he’s devoted to,” said Rhyins. 

Morning and night, Rhyins says the scooter never stops.

“We had a lot of homeless people in the perimeter of our neighborhood, and there was a lot of trash left over, and he went in and cleared it all out,” Rhyins said. “He keeps an eye out on us too, so that is worth a lot right there.”

So, it was time to Pay It 4ward with $400.

Watch the video above for more.