More than 50 people, many of whom were Kutztown University students, helped to clean up Kutztown on Sunday during Kutztown Community Partnership’s Safe, Clean and Green community-wide clean-up event in Kutztown on Sunday afternoon.
“I was amazed that such a large group of KU students would give up their Sunday afternoon to help in our efforts to clean up the Main Street area of Kutztown. They were such a nice group which did include some community adults and children as well,” said Nancy Brooks, Main Street Manager, KCP.
What does this say about Kutztown?
“One reaction that I have when I think of this question is that we are a community that cares about our environment and appearance,” said Brooks. “The KCP Safe, Clean and Green Cleanups also represent a positive opportunity that Kutztown has in being able to work with and help give opportunity to the many wonderful students at Kutztown University. I love that we can all work together for a greater good…. a clean Kutztown.”
Rebecca Lichtenthal, KCP Social Work Intern, lead this community-wide clean-up effort.
“KCP Safe Clean and Green Committee facilitates the green efforts being made within the community, and also works collaboratively with Kutztown University and the Borough of Kutztown to implement community wide clean-up events,” said Lichtenthal.
“Every Sunday we try and get different organizations and community members to donate their time to help us walk up and down Main Street and cleanup the streets after a busy weekend,” said Lichtenthal. “This Sunday’s group was different because there was more than 50 students from multiple aspects of the university working together. There were students from the Environmental Club, Nature Club, Kappa Sigma and social work students.”
Future clean up events will be held at noon April 18 and 25 and May 2. Volunteers are asked to meet in front of the Community Development office, 324 W. Main Street, Kutztown.
Also of significance is the “I am Kutztown” sign being held in the event photos.
“‘I am Kutztown’ is a campaign I created to both help people gain a sense of pride and ownership of their town and is geared toward the development of a “video gift” to the historical society at the 200th Bicentennial of Kutztown,” said Brooks.
KCP’s plan is to take as many photos as possible from now until the week of the Bicentennial “which will as fully as possible represent all that Kutztown was in 2015,” said Brooks.
The video will have original music by local musicians and a slide show of all the photos that KCP took for this project, she said. “This video will then become an archive in time capsule to be broken open in 2065.”
“That is the idea behind ‘I am Kutztown,’ but the sense of pride could take it a bit further than the week of the Bicentennial Events.”
For more information about KCP and its events, call 484-646-9069 or email kcp@hometownu.com.
