GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Hundreds of volunteers took to the streets of Grand Rapids for a two-day citywide cleanup effort tied to America's 250th birthday celebration.
Angela Gildea, who joined co-workers from Blue Cross Blue Shield for the event, said neighborhood pride was her motivation for cleaning up her city.
"I think it's important that people are proud of the community that they live in," Gildea said.
Gildea said a clean city is a driver to getting people to be more involved with their downtown.
"I think it's just important that we have a clean city. Because you don't come downtown if you don't have clean city," Gildea said.
Grand Rapids Chamber Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Strategic Engagement Andy Johnston said the event was designed to build on work already happening across the neighborhoods.
"We want to amplify what's already being done to improve our community through this expanded community cleanup," Johnston said.
Johnston said the cleanup also served as a meaningful way to mark the nation's milestone anniversary.
"This is a great tangible example of civic engagement. It's a fantastic way to give back, to show that you did something to improve the community that we all love," Johnston said.
Several volunteers said they were surprised by how little trash they found.
"It's a pretty clean city," one volunteer said.
Gildea agreed.
"Kind of found it shocking that there's not a whole lot of trash. I think Grand Rapids takes really good care of our city," Gildea said.
Volunteers are back out on Saturday, and the public is still welcome to join.
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