DU QUOIN (WSIL) -- A local teacher has cleaned up the environment, taught students about giving back, and helped the Perry County Humane Society all at the same time.
Beth Collins is a fifth-grade teacher at Carruther's Elementary School in Murphysboro. She is also a dedicated runner, getting her exercise on the streets of DuQuoin every day, no matter the weather.
While on her runs, Beth carries a small grocery bag to pick-up trash she sees along the street. She averages about one bag of trash per mile, and she may run between four to six miles a day.
If she finds aluminum cans, saves them, turns them into cash, and donates the money to the Perry County Humane Society. She even got her students involved, collecting cans in the classroom.
Beth has been running for 20-years and has run in every state and has two more continents to cover. She has also run every single day for about 13-years. When the pandemic hit last March, that's when she decided to pick up the trash along her route, and she has been doing it ever since.
