The Greater Linden community starts each spring with an annual community clean up in April. The Greater Linden Development Corporation (GLDC) is one of the primary sponsors of this event, and invites residents, business owners, church groups and members from all of Linden’s community groups and organizations to come out and help sweep away the dead leaves and litter that accumulate on the streets over the winter months. The clean up is scheduled in April to coincide with the City’s Keep Columbus Beautiful spring campaign.
ANNUAL CLEAN UP 2008 Photo Gallery
The 2008 annual spring clean-up was held on Saturday, April 19th. The day started at 8:30 a.m. with a Jericho Prayer Gathering at the Old Fire Station 18 (1551 Cleveland) organized by the Greater Linden Prayer Network. Then, from 9 am – 2 pm, volunteers hit the streets with rakes, brooms, litter grabbers and shovels. Keep Columbus Beautiful (KCB) provided trash bags and gloves for all of the volunteers. New Harvest Café (1675 Arlington Ave.) co-sponsored, organizing crews north of Hudson and providing refreshments for all volunteers at the end of the day. Members of the Greater Linden Advisory Council, Blockwatch Alliance, Business Network, and Landlord Association all joined in. Representatives from both the North and South Linden Area Commissions participated, too. Several members of GLDC’s Board of Trustees even pitched in, proving that they are just as handy with rakes and brooms as they are with pen, paper and calculators.
From kindergartners to octogenarians, everyone worked hard sweeping sidewalks, edging lawns, raking debris and even painting the picnic tables at the old fire station mini-park. Approximately 50 volunteers collected between 150-200 bags of trash off sidewalks, streets, and vacant lots. Working together, GLDC staff, trustees and lots of energetic volunteers gave Cleveland Avenue a fresh, clean look for spring!
NBC 4’s Tacoma Washington came out to cover the event, interviewing several participants for a story that aired on the 6 o’clock news. Tacoma reported, “Folks we talked to say presentation is all about pride, and they say they’re diligent about being proud of their neighborhood.” Pastor Dale Snyder from Bethel AME said he had a clear purpose for being part of the clean-up. “We preach a lot of sermons, so I wanted to be a sermon.” David Carson, a member of a men’s CARE group at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, explained the simple philosophy of the clean-up, “If you look good, you feel good, so if the neighborhood looks good you’ll take more pride in it and try to keep it that way.” GLDC’s executive director donna Hicho explained that even though there are some negative things that happen in Linden, “by far the majority of residents are hard-working people who love this community.” An unidentified passer-by interviewed by Tacoma said the clean-up might help because “they’ll start to appreciate their neighborhood and we’ll begin to love one another and where we live.”
Our special thanks to the following for their help in making the annual cleanup a clean sweep! …
Keep Columbus Beautiful (provided bags and gloves)
City of Columbus Mobile Tool Library (provided rakes and brooms)
New Harvest Café (owner Kwodwo Ababio helped organize and provided dinner)
Family Fish and Chicken (1558 Cleveland, donated water)
Radio Personality Walter Smith (for coming out to help clean)
NBC 4’s Tacoma Washington – for covering the story
Litter League Teams (who registered to pick up litter all summer)
And ALL the volunteers who pitched in!
If you want to join in the summer-long Linden Litter League that will continue to pick up litter all summer or if you want to be notified of other clean-ups scheduled this year, call 294-9600. For more information about the Linden Prayer Network, call 299-6343. |
