The Kutztown Community Partnership, with the support of some community partners helped set the tone for the start of another school year on Sunday Aug. 27, by hosting a day packed full of community spirit.
From noon to 3 p.m. more than 50 volunteers from the Kutztown community with brooms, buckets, and trash bags in hand hit the streets of downtown Kutztown to do some deep cleaning. Covering a 3 block radius from College to Constitution Blvd., volunteers worked in teams of 3-8 to kick off the first of many clean ups this fall in conjunction with the Kutztown Community Partnership’s Clean and Green committee. An on-going project, the Clean and Green committee is dedicated to organizing community efforts and special projects that will help keep Kutztown beautiful.
‘We have a beautiful downtown and we want to provide the opportunity and encouragement for others to help us keep it that way,’ said committee chair and Mayor of Kutztown, Sandy Green.
The buzz among community members helping out throughout the day was that they love being part of the Kutztown community and were happy to spend a few hours lending a hand.
A full dumpster’s worth of trash later, volunteers and community members gathered at Pop’s Malt Shoppe for a free community BBQ sponsored by Eagle Point Property Management. In addition to delicious free food, partners from the community set up a resource station outside the FOE to provide community members and returning students with give aways, information, and recycling buckets! Resource distributors included the Borough of Kutztown’s Environmental Action Committee and Community Development office, KUBoK Neighborhood Watch , KU’s Student Involvement, KU Food contract services, and KCP.
‘We are so grateful to those who not only lent their time to help out with this event, but also for the Kutztown Lion’s Club, the Borough of Kutztown, and Eagle Point Property Management for allowing us the financial resources to buy supplies, dispose of trash, and show appreciation to our volunteers,’ said Kutztown Community Partnership’s program director, Amanda Verrastro.
As KCP’s Clean and Green committee continues to grow, with the addition of a KU MSW student, Brendan Chambers, who will be assisting part time as part of his course work throughout the 2013-2014, the committee hopes to expand their cleanup efforts by creating a sustainable program that can host a different clean up team every week. If you are interested in leading a group or getting involved in these projects or more, contact KCP@hometownu.com to get started.
