When?: Saturday, May 17th 2014. We'll start as early as 9 a.m. and there will be events going on all day at different times.
What?: What will we do? Several things including:
1. Working with block leaders to make a "sweep" of small areas near our homes picking up small (and large!) items of trash.
2. Taking notes about, and photographs of, larger problems and code violations that can be reported to the City of Erie Code Enforcement Office.
Why? The first, most obvious, reason is to actually make the neighborhood look nicer. There are several other goals, however. One is to send a message to people that don't care how the neighborhood looks that they are outnumbered. A second reason is to generate some positive publicity for the neighborhood and the organization. (I'll be sending out a press release and contacting the Erie Times-News and the television stations prior to the event.) Third, once we have an "official" event, we can start asking outside agencies to get involved. Penn-Dot is donating gloves and garbage bags. It might not seem like much but I will be getting in touch with any other local, state, or private agency that I think will be willing to help us.
Who? You! We need people who can give five minutes, people who can give three hours, and any amount in between. Being a block leader is probably the easiest way to help. We need four more block leaders. The block leaders responsibility is to simply take charge of a small area near their own home, and ask a few neighbors to help out. Reaching out to people in person will be key to making the event successful. Register today by emailing academy.neighborhood.erie@gmail.com.
Don't be confused! There is a cleanup day, with a number of other local organizations, scheduled for later in April. Next year, we will coordinate our Academy Neighborhood Cleanup with this local effort.
Want to know more? Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania
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