Allston-Brighton residents will have a chance to volunteer to clean up the local neighborhood on April 25 as part of the City of Boston’s annual Love Your Block Event.
Working in direct communication with the Public Works and Parks and Recreation Department, the event will provide residents with resources such as clean-up tools, trash bags, and gloves to assist with clean up and ensure trash is handled properly during the event.
“The idea is that they would come together as neighbors, enjoy a beautiful spring day out in the community,” Nathalia Benitez-Perez, director of the mayor’s office of civic organizing, said. “Taking ownership of their own areas, as well as beautifying their own areas.”
Bloomberg Philanthropies originally created Love Your Block in 2009 as a national grant fund for cities around the country. The city of Boston first launched this event in 2009 and called it Boston Shines. It officially became the Love Your Block event in 2018.
Last year, the event had more than 3,100 volunteers who helped clean up over 150 sites around the city. With the growth over the years, Perez said, this year the event plans to host 179 sites with about 4,000 volunteers contributing.
“We don’t really care about the amount of trash bags that are collected throughout this,” Perez said. “We care about the fact that people can come out, get to know perhaps new residents, new neighbors.
“They can feel like they’re doing a difference in their community by showing up and volunteering for one day.”
While Love Your Block’s mission is to create a community within the cleanup sites, residents have shared their concerns about trash pick-up and disposal around the city. According to data findings from Boston 311 Services, there have been about 600 trash complaints, with more than 300 cases of improper storage of trash, in Allston-Brighton this year alone.
Kimberly Wilkins Cummings, the owner of Artful Edge Framing on Harvard Avenue, who has contacted and heard back from Boston 311 services about trash issues, suggests there could be more trash barrels around the city.
“You just need to have more barrels out, there’s only like one as far as I can see around this neighborhood, which is not enough,” Cummings said.
Sam Lee, a Brighton resident, has not heard about the Love Your Block event and says the city does a nice job with regular trash pick-up, but should communicate with residents more on initiatives.
“That would be also helpful to know, notice, or information out to residents,” said Lee. “I think it’s a really innovative initiative.”
The Love Your Block event begins April 24 in downtown Boston. Aside from the April 25 event in Allston-Brighton, it will host clean-ups in multiple neighborhoods up until May 2. The registration form for Love Your Block is currently closed, but residents can email the Office of Civic Organizing through the city of Boston website if they are interested in participating.