From Church Street all the way up to Jefferson Hospital, volunteers gathered along Frankford Avenue on Saturday to help clean up the street.
The event was Frankford Community Cares, spearheaded by Turning Points for Children and PowerCircle Mentors, and brought together a slew of community organizations. An estimated 200 volunteers showed up for the cleaning and food, removing an estimated 200 bags of trash from the street.
“We wanted to bring our resources to the Frankford community because we thought they could use some love,” said Zoraida Cordero of Turning Point for Children CUA 3. “We wanted people to see positive things happening in their community consecutively, and not just another crime scene or another theft.”
Volunteers started at Church Street at about 9:45 a.m. and made their way up to the hospital so a fire truck could pressure wash the street.
Cordero, Nicole Smith and other members of Turning Points for Children spread the word by attending meetings, using social media and walking the streets handing out fliers. The event was about not only cleaning the streets, but setting an example for the community.
“This morning we heard people saying oh, it will just be dirty again tomorrow and that’s fine, because at least today Frankford saw people come out and set an example,” Cordero said.
Eugene Thomas, president of Power Circle, added the goal was to show community members they can keep the avenue clean.
“Frankford is my neighborhood and I hate saying our area is dirty, but when you go to other areas it’s always neat and clean, so we just want people to stop littering and dropping needles everywhere.”
After the cleaning, volunteers and community members enjoyed a cookout and acknowledgments. U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle was in attendance and addressed the crowd.
“Everyone coming together to clean, whether it’s organizations or the community, was the idea behind it. That’s the power that pulls together all these entities and made it what it is today,” Cordero said.
Other organizations involved included the 15th Police District, Philadelphia Police Academy Recruits Class 390A, The Block Gives Back, Grace City Church, the Wedge Recovery Center, West Frankford Town Watch, First Philadelphia Prep Baseball and Basketball, Meek Treats, the Free Library of Philadelphia Frankford branch, the Philadelphia Fire Department, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle’s office, the Office of Violence Prevention and the Frankford CDC, in addition to community members. Cleaning tools were donated from Community Life Improvement Program and the Frankford CDC. ••
