BY JANA METGE and BRAD PASS
On Saturday October 8th over 800 Phillips residents gathered to clean up their neighborhoods. Phillips Clean Sweep is a Partnership of the East Phillips Improvement Coalition, Phillips West Neighborhood Organization, Little Earth of United Tribes, Ventura Village, and City of Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling. Picking up Litter is second to the Community Building!
Folks met for breakfast, picked up supplies, and met their neighbors at LSS 2400 Park Ave. or Welna Hardware on Bloomington Ave. 400 T-Shirts were given to volunteers which list the year”'s donors and a new design by T-Shirt Contest Winner Jennifer Gomez, East Phillips resident, De LaSalle student and Banyan Member.
Trash Pick-Up Teams were assigned to every block. 6 Drivers and Garbage Trucks are hired to cover each neighborhood plus Specialty pick-ups. This is a service to the neighborhood, all free of charge.
2016 Trash Total Results:
Ventura Village ”“ 8,260 lbs.
Phillips West ”“ 2,560 lbs.
Midtown Phillips ”“ 11,340 lbs.
East Phillips ”“ 10,700 lbs.Â
2 Specialty Trucks (tires, old furniture, household construction, electronics, appliances, and metal):
West Side Phillips
4,600 lbs. metal, 10 TV”'s, 3 Appliances, 20 Tires.
East Side Phillips
4,000 lbs. metal, 16 TV”'s, 9 Appliances, 57 Tire.
That”'s a total of 41,460 lbs. of trash plus TV”'s, appliances, and tires. 20 lbs of compost was collected three food services from feeding 800 people twice!
At noon the volunteers gathered at Stewart Park for lunch. VJ Smith and Mad Dads broadcasted music and BB-Que-d, Bethlehem Baptist provided sandwiches, chips, & bars and Banyan students served the lunch. Solid Waste & Recycling and Compost Initiative had Info Tables. Clean City Coordinator Michelle Howard and City Compost Champion Kellie Kish were there to answer all questions! The New American Youth Soccer Club was on hand to explain their activities.
The Phillips Clean Sweep Planning Team meets weekly from mid-August thru Clean Sweep. We are always looking for more planning team members, organizations to participate, and folks to come out for the morning litter pick up!
The Team sought and managed $7,400. of cash donations totaling and In-Kind donations estimated at another $7,000 from our many generous sponsors.
This GREAT event could not occur but for our generous Sponsors who provide both cash and In-Kind Contributions ”“ AND ”“ all of you, our Neighborhood Volunteers! Thank you All!!
See you all next year 2nd Sat., October 14th, 2017! Â
