Volunteers from a Jenkintown church were in the Northeast on Oct. 25 for a community cleanup across the 202nd Legislative District.
The World Mission Society Church of God’s young adult volunteer group teamed with state Rep. Jared Solomon on the effort. The group is called Save The Earth From A to Z-We Are One, also known as ASEZ WAO.
ASEZ WAO’s global environmental efforts include the Plastic-Free 2040 Campaign and the Green Earth project.
Solomon thanked the group for a past cleanup of Castor Avenue, snow shoveling and repainting and installing basketball nets at Tarken Playground. He hopes neighbors will see their efforts and keep their properties clean.
“You all put this neighborhood on the map and gave us all a voice. I love you all so much,” he said.
In addition to trash, some blocks in Solomon’s district have been dealing with a rat problem. Solomon said the city’s Vector Control program has been dealing with the issue, and that the cleanup by ASEZ WAO was a big help. Ongoing work will be performed by Glitter, a nonprofit that cleans residential blocks and reports 311 issues such as abandoned cars and illegal dumping.
The volunteers began outside Solomon’s office at 6434 Castor Ave. Solomon suggested blocks and alleyways in most need. The cleanup took place on both sides of Roosevelt Boulevard, generally from Devereaux Avenue to St. Vincent Street and from Castor Avenue to Crispin Street.
Volunteers were armed with trash bags, gloves, grabbers, rakes, brooms, push brooms, shovels and dustpans. They were told to not pick up needles with their hands
In all, 88 people took part in the cleanup, divided between Team A and Team B. Volunteers removed litter and waste from neighborhood streets, sidewalks and alleyways. The cleanup resulted in 2,200 pounds of trash and debris collected in about 60 bags. About 70 percent of the trash was plastic.
Other items included a couch, pillows, shopping cart, tires, tire rims and dirty diapers.
Nine dead rats and a dead mouse were picked up in the alleyway between the 6900 blocks of Eastwood Street and Oakland Street. However, a live rat was seen running into the back of an Eastwood Street house under a garage door that was not properly closed.
The trash was piled up on the 1300 block of Hellerman St. for the sanitation department to pick up. ••
