Take a look, and see how many volunteers came out to remove trash, litter, and graffiti from areas in the Powellhurst-Gilbert, Mill Park, Hazelwood, and Centennial neighborhoods …
At the start of the Division Midway Alliance Take Pride In Your Neighborhood Clean Up day, Jed Volvovic, Josh Volvovic, Kaitlyn Thayer, Charles Lewis, and Grant Lewis head out to clean up the area’s streets in outer East Portland.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, designated a “National Day of Service”, Division Midway Alliance for Community Improvement (DMA) hosted its annual Take Pride in Your Neighborhood Clean Up, on January 18.
“We have a lot of volunteers signed up today,” smiled DMA District Manager Lori Boisen.
Signing in volunteers is DMA District Manager Lori Boisen, Board President Lorelei Young, and AmeriCorps Representative Advisor Kem Marks.
“Because we have so many volunteers, about 70 of them, we’re doing a street-side cleanup along SE Division Street, from Interstate 205 east to the City of Gresham, and from SE Powell Boulevard to Market Street.
“It is important to have a clean community, both for businesses and for our neighbors,” Boisen remarked. “When our area is clean and well-kept, it tells neighbors that they can have a sense of pride in their neighborhood.”
In past years, the clean-up has partnered with SOLVE; but this year, thanks to a “Reuse, Recycle, and Clean-up Community Grant” funded by the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and by Metro, DMA was able to expand the reach and scope of their community preening effort.
Volunteer Tom Barnes teaches safe and approved methods for removing graffiti from public surfaces.
Again this year, some of the volunteers were dispatched to remove graffiti from public surfaces, using approved methods taught by Certified Graffiti Removal Expert, 2010 Spirit of Portland award recipient, and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood volunteer, Tom Barnes.
Many of the volunteers were students from Pacific University and David Douglas High School Key Club.
David Douglas High School Key Club President Sophia Lui, Club Editor Yang Huang, and VP Leslie Li brought dozens of students with them to join in the Day of Service community clean-up.
David Douglas High School senior – and Key Club President – Sophia Lui told about the group, saying, “The Key Club is a student-led organization at David Douglas High.
“We provide community service opportunities for students at our school,” Lui explained. “This is important, because our goal is to help our club members become better-rounded people, and to have more opportunities to be involved in their community.”
Don Hawkins of Electronics and Appliance Recycling stands by to receive cast-off electronic goods.
After the day ended, Boisen checked in with East Portland News, telling about the results in outer East Portland.
“The volunteers removed 50+ SOLVE bags of trash, and eradicated innumerable graffiti from neighborhood right of ways between SE 112th & 156th Avenues,” Boisen said. “The East Portland Rovers also represented and picked up the remaining debris along the way. This year, E-Wastematters was on hand to recycle ‘anything with a cord’.
“And, Cammy Pierson, owner of Curtis Trailers, provided two trucks and employees – who hauled six truckloads of discarded household items from neighborhood streets.”
All total, about seven tons of trash was hauled away in two large drop boxes.
Up and down streets, volunteers spend the “National Day of Service” participating in the DMA Take Pride in Your Neighborhood Clean Up.
DMA has upcoming events for business owners and managers. Learn more by checking the East Portland News Community Calendar, or visit the official DMA website: CLICK HERE.
> On our Front Page: Mill Park Neighborhood Association Chair Trevor Hopper and a DMA Security Advisor move more bulky waste into a drop box.
© 2016 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News
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