Taking Pride in Lynn Neighborhood Cleanup a Success!

On the morning of May 17, residents of Lynn cooperated to beautify their city. With a helping hand from the DPW and the state's Community Service program, they swept, raked and shoveled an estimated 30 bags of trash. Everything from scratched lottery tickets to an abandoned car seat, fast food wrappers to rusted shopping carts. Residents can take pride in a much cleaner neighborhood.

The area of Lynn around the Ingalls school, from Fayette St. to Chatham, and from Essex St. to Timson is much improved. Volunteers included homeowners, renters, and youth from the Food Project, Girls Inc., Boys and Girls Club, and SCI Lynn. Afterwards, they celebrated their efforts with camaraderie and lunch donated by socially responsible businesses in Lynn.

Big Brothers Big Sisters was on site, recruiting Bigs for one-to-one mentoring relationships with at-risk youth. The DPW showed up to promote recycling. Thirty new trash barrels were distributed to residents who came with their old, deteriorating ones.

The clean-up was a success because of the many people it brought together, working toward a common purpose. Some of these people met for the first time and found they shared a common interest. Others have been friends for a while, and bonded further over the course of the day. The cynic might say that the impact was minimal, that we didn't make much of a difference in the long run. The idealist would say that all change must start somewhere. A first step has been taken.