Lents neighbors clean up Town Center monument

See volunteers at work, sprucing up this outer East Portland gateway sign island that welcomes people to their community …

On the west end of Lents Town Center, volunteers check in, ready to help tidy up around the Lents West Monument.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Many groups organized street clean-ups on Wednesday morning, July 21. One of those was the Lents ‘Monument West’ Clean-up, hosted by the Lents Neighborhood Association (LNA), done in partnership with SOLVE, and with the support of local businesses and nonprofit organizations.

You may not recognize the site by its name, but the Lents West Monument marks the entry to Lents Town Center. For those driving east along SE Foster Road, as it nears 92nd Avenue, it’s the towering iconic iron vertical obelisk sign, on the traffic island where lanes split off toward SE Woodstock Boulevard, forming one-way street couplet through the area.

Volunteers stepped up, ready to clean out litter, debris, and invasive plant species.

Lents ‘Monument West’ Clean-up organizer Jean Fang greets volunteers arriving to help.

“This is important to me, because being part of the neighborhood association has really opened my eyes to a lot of the challenges that all Lents residents face,” explained the organizer, LNA Vice Chair Jean Fang – who was also serving as the SOLVE leader there.

“I drive by this monument quite frequently, so I’m happy we’re cleaning up the traffic island and the surrounding streets,” Fang told East Portland News.

“Community clean-up events like these bringing folks together; and, they have a low ‘barrier to entry’ while providing a necessary service to maintain safety and beauty of our neighborhood,” Fang observed.

“They provide a connection point to both enjoy our outdoor neighborhood spaces and connect with fellow neighbors,” she continued. “I especially enjoy these community events as a launching point to discuss challenges and solutions we face here in outer East Portland,” Fang said.

Josh Hill, a volunteer from Wall of Vets, and another volunteer who discovered the cleanup online, Ryan Hillis, pick up trash on the Lents West Monument traffic island.

Eager to get busy, volunteers headed out to clean up. Now, when you drive past, remember the volunteers who spruced up this part of Lents for all of us to enjoy – either residents or nearby neighbors who frequent Lents Town Center.

After the event Fang said that their volunteers removed a lot of debris from the area; about 175 lbs of trash.

To learn more about the Lents Neighborhood Association, see their official website: CLICK HERE.

>> On our Front Page: Volunteers Lissette Erickson and Zyaire Julian pick up debris in Lents Town Center.

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