Orange vests popped up all over Hamburg, Saturday, April 23. Volunteers wearing the brightly colored safety gear were part of an annual Keep Hamburg Beautiful event, organized through the Our Town Foundation (OTF) and part of a nationwide effort to clean up litter in communities.
Although overcast and drizzly skies greeted the first volunteers on Saturday, the weather soon cleared, aiding their efforts. Cleanup Coordinator Lori LaPearl and OTF design committee member Melanie Geiger directed volunteer efforts from a pavilion at Hamburg Community Park, located off Franklin Street.
Among the volunteers were Cub Scouts from Pack 121 of Hamburg. They arrived with parents and siblings in tow, ready to bag litter.
“It helps the community,” Cub Scout Christian Lopez explained.
“And because it will help the park,” his sister, Sara Lopez, added.
Other volunteers included retirees, youth group members, employees from Niagra Water and students from Hamburg Area High School. A large group of children and adult volunteers represented the Bridge Church of Hamburg.
“We’re here to show the love of Christ,” Jeb Wood explained.
His pastor, Mark Caston, smiled and added, “And to serve our community.”
Each volunteer was offered a safety vest, gloves and a trash bag, along with a map dividing the town into coverage areas. After brief instructions from LaPearl and Geiger, leaders took six teams into separate areas around town.
“See you back here for hot dogs when you’re done,” Geiger called as the groups headed out. She began sweeping debris from the pavilion while sharing the history of Keep Hamburg Beautiful.
“It started with the design committee wanting to improve our community,” she recalled, explaining that one committee member was complaining about trash he saw when driving around Hamburg. “So we decided to do something about it.”
The first cleanup day was set five years ago on the Saturday closest to Earth Day. Thereafter, Geiger said, the town has held two events a year.
“And I must say,” she added, “this is a very clean town. We don’t really pick up a lot of trash.”
In the end, 56 volunteers collected 46 bags of trash along with five more bags of recycling. They returned, litter in tow, to the park pavilion to enjoy a complimentary lunch including hot dogs and cupcakes.
“It’s been amazing,” Geiger said of the turnout each year. “It’s always a big group.”
“I think it’s fantastic,” LaPearl said of the cleanup event. “But people should do this every day. It shouldn’t be a one-day thing. We need to take pride in our town.”
Keep Hamburg Beautiful is sponsored by Hamburg Southgate Neighborhood, Berks Foods, St. John’s/Thrivent Members and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. It is held in conjunction with the nationwide movement Keep America Beautiful Inc. (www.kab.org) and organized twice a year in Hamburg through the Our Town Foundation, 342 State St., Hamburg.