2012 Clean Community Competition also gets underway

WHO: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will join Director Alfred H. Foxx at a Power In Dirt vacant lot being converted into a green space in the Oliver Community to officially kickoff the 2012 Mayor’s Spring Cleanup. Launched in August, 2011, Power in Dirt is the City’s first comprehensive plan to specifically address vacant lots by engaging residents and organizations in their sustainable revitalization.

Volunteers from the community and members of the 6th Branch, Come Home Baltimore and the Veteran Artist Program will also attend this launch. In addition, the Mayor will announce the start of the first-ever Clean Community Competition.

WHEN: Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: 1501 N. Bethel Street

WHAT: Over 200 community organizations and 5,830 volunteers have signed up to clean up on Saturday, come rain or shine! This is the 13th Mayor’s Spring Cleanup and the 25th overall citywide cleanup. The Mayor’s Cleanups started in March 2000 when over a two-day period, volunteers removed 2,500 tons of debris from the areas around their neighborhoods. Since then total tonnage removed in all cleanups has reached nearly 90,000 tons!

Following the kickoff, the Mayor will visit other Power In Dirt community cleanups:

10:45 a.m. 3800 Park Heights Avenue; 11:10 a.m. 4300 Park Heights Avenue for a ribbon cutting for a new playground at what was last year’s Spring cleanup kickoff site; and at 12 noon at 2300 Annapolis Road.