Project Pride Cleanup is Saturday

In celebration of Earth Day (April 22), and in conjunction with The Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania, Project Pride residents, and community volunteers will be cleaning up litter in the Elm Street Project Pride area.

The event will run from 10 am until 1 pm on Saturday April 24th. This effort is to remove litter and trash from the Project Pride/Elm Street Neighborhood bordered by Bennett Street, Charlotte Avenue, School Street, and Barbour Street as well as Main Street.

This is not a bulk homeowner or household waste cleanup, but a concentrated effort to remove litter and trash from the Elm Street Project Pride area and downtown. Grace Lutheran Community Life Center, 79 Mechanic Street, will serve as cleanup headquarters and provide an area for cleanup participants to take a break, grab a light snack and pick up gloves, vests and trash bags. “This event is a product of our Elm Street Safe, Clean, and Green Committee and the major goal is to encourage community building through personal stewardship while enhancing the level of cleanliness in our state designated Elm Street Neighborhood.

“If the initiatives in Project Pride are going to continue, residents need to have ownership of the effort. Litter and the condition of housing are two of the major complaints listed by those that fill out the neighborhood survey each year. We have facade and rehab programs that are dealing with the housing stock. Project Pride Litter Patrols can deal with the trash," said Project Pride Elm Street Manager Lisa Keck. "Every year the annual cleanup nets around a ton of trash and the goal has always been to have more frequent pick up efforts. If each block organized a small crew to go out and pick up trash on a monthly basis the impact would be huge. If each person invested just an hour a month to help clean up Project Pride, program ownership would be at an all-time high and the landscape would look much cleaner. This is a great way to increase the reach of our Elm Street initiatives while at the same time stressing the importance of working as a team to keep our neighborhoods litter free. It’s a great hands-on lesson in community pride."

Pick it up PA days run from April 17th through May 1st. Last year 4,722 cleanup projects removed over 6,880,220 pounds of trash from our communities across the state. Come join your friends, family and neighbors on Saturday as we “Pick It Up, PA!”