Dear PoP – How ‘Bout a Day of Service?
30 March 2009 11:48 PM | By Prince Of Petworth in Dear PoP, quality of life, volunteers 
IMG_7356, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.
“Dear PoP,
So, I was reading the rock throwing post and all the diatribe that always comes with such discussions of our neighborhood. It seems to me that there is a split – those of us who love the beautiful life and want to work to make it better and those who hate the beautiful life and want the rest of us to join them. For those of us who want to make it better, what would you think of organizing a different kind of PoP happy hour? We complain about litter, general apathy in the neighborhood, etc, so I was thinking we could do a spring cleaning day somewhere in the neighborhood. Again – there are ways other than violence to show the thugs that they aren’t in charge any more.”
I think this is a great idea. And I believe we should do it once a month in a different neighborhood from April – September. We can pick a new neighborhood every month. I suggest we make it the third Saturday of every month. And I know folks are busy so let’s just plan on two hours of not only cleaning but also chatting neighborhood folks up and perhaps grabbing some beers upon completion. Ideally it would be great if everyone could participate even if it falls in a neighborhood that they don’t live in. And we should be a force. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get 50 people together every month for this? I think it is doable. But if there’s only 6 of us it’s not going to work. So let’s see if folks are into this in the comments. If there is a positive reception I’ll put a poll up to see which neighborhood we’ll start with. Sound like a plan?
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31 March 2009 12:43 AM | thank you Said:
totally in. Love it! What a great suggestion!
31 March 2009 12:48 AM | Naomi Said:
Love the idea. I’m in.
31 March 2009 1:30 AM | Son of Quincy Said:
100% in. Let’s get this going! Great idea.
31 March 2009 6:11 AM | New2CH Said:
Sounds great. There is already a clean-up schedule for North Columbia Heights Civic Association for April 11 (Saturday from 10:30 to noonish), fyi. We do one every month in the spring, summer and fall starting this month, may be a little quick for this one but it would be great to have POP as a co-sponsor one month when you pick our neighborhood …
31 March 2009 6:13 AM | New2CH Said:
On a related note, it might be cool to have a service version of Columbia Heights Day one full Saturday each year, kind of a service fair where all sorts of organizations in the area open their doors to new volunteers, maybe two chunks of times each in the a.m. and p.m. and everyone in the community is encouraged to try out a few of them. That would obviously require a lot more organization …
31 March 2009 6:18 AM | James in Washington Said:
I love it. Sign me up.
31 March 2009 6:47 AM | ScottahB Said:
I think this is a great suggestion! I’d be willing to help out.
31 March 2009 7:08 AM | u street girl Said:
I think I can volunteer me and the boyfriend. I love the idea.
31 March 2009 7:57 AM | parkview Said:
this sounds really cool! sign me up too
31 March 2009 8:42 AM | 1400 Block of Harvard ST NW Said:
Love this idea – time to be a part of the change we ask for in others.
I am in!
31 March 2009 9:01 AM | christopher Said:
liked this the first time it was suggested last year, like it even more now…lets do it to it!
31 March 2009 9:04 AM | Anonymous Said:
Sounds great! The wife and I would participate.
31 March 2009 9:08 AM | EMG Said:
Brilliant idea, I’m tired of my dog stopping every three inches to eat something left on the ground.
31 March 2009 9:32 AM | Fellow Petworthian Said:
Count me in!
31 March 2009 9:33 AM | Lesley Said:
Wonderful! I would definitely be interested.
31 March 2009 9:34 AM | David Said:
I want to help out too!
31 March 2009 9:34 AM | Anonymous Said:
awesome! Also, if people wanted to volunteer, the Servathon http://servathon.org/about/ is another cool opportunity. They ask for a $25 donation per person, so I know not everyone will be interested, but perhaps there could be a PoP team for those who are.
31 March 2009 9:35 AM | Sheepy Said:
Sounds good to me! Though I probably won’t have time til June.
31 March 2009 9:53 AM | dceited Said:
totally in on this. great idea!
31 March 2009 9:57 AM | Raz Said:
I think this is a great idea. Count me in.
31 March 2009 9:58 AM | sam Said:
great idea.
31 March 2009 10:12 AM | DC_Chica Said:
Count me in too
31 March 2009 10:26 AM | marc Said:
me too! me too!
31 March 2009 10:41 AM | oliveskinnednica Said:
will there be punch and pie…i want punch and pie!
i’m in
31 March 2009 10:46 AM | Anonymous Said:
Great idea!
31 March 2009 10:48 AM | Nick Said:
I think that we should seriously consider Kingman Island Day (http://www.kingmanisland.org/14233.html) that is scheduled for April 25. I heard about this a while ago and think it sounds like a great idea. Basically everyone helps clean up and beautify Kingman Island on the Anacostia River, and there will be educational programs for children. Apparently its sponsored by the office of the deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
31 March 2009 10:50 AM | Trash Treaty Said:
Sweet! As the District is a signatory to the Trash Treaty, this would go a long way to helping the Mayor and the City meet its commitment to reduce the amount of litter flowing into the Potomac. Tally-ho.
31 March 2009 10:53 AM | Fergusonfoundation Said:
http://www.fergusonfoundation.org/trash_initiative/trashtreaty_currentSECURE.pdf
31 March 2009 10:56 AM | Casey Trees Said:
It might also be worth considering linking this “new” effort to tree planting, as the District does support such initiatives, and it would be a neat way to get kids involved with conservation efforts. See http://www.caseytrees.org/
31 March 2009 11:09 AM | Anonymous Said:
I love the Casey Trees idea, as I am a Citizen Forester. Casey Trees also provides trees and equipment if a neighborhood applies to beautify a triangle park or section of a street. I also suggest we clean up New Hampshire ave. between grant Circle and the GA ave/Petworth Metro.
31 March 2009 11:41 AM | LJG Said:
Count me in!
31 March 2009 11:47 AM | Bryan Said:
I’m in, and i also think it’s a great idea to use our developing workforce for things like Servathon, Kingman Island, etc. I did Servathon last year and it was a good experience (except for the afterparty).
31 March 2009 11:49 AM | Casey Said:
You know some time ago I mentioned this and got one response. why now all the urgency to make something happen. I am all for keeping our great neighborhood even better.
31 March 2009 11:57 AM | Crystal Said:
Sign me up — sounds like a great plan
31 March 2009 11:59 AM | Stilton Said:
Count me in too! Great idea.
31 March 2009 12:19 PM | Katie Said:
Of course! I will be there.
31 March 2009 12:40 PM | ListenToLeon Said:
Sounds great. I’m in!
31 March 2009 1:21 PM | Aimei Said:
I think this is a great idea and would be willing to help out. I suggest if this does get off the ground that there is some kind of advance notice as to where and when the cleanup days are taking place. Sometimes notices don’t get out until the day before and for us planners, we need to mark it on our calendars ahead of time.
31 March 2009 1:54 PM | Anonymous Said:
should we include scraping gum off trees to our clean up list?
31 March 2009 2:24 PM | Ross Said:
I’m in!
31 March 2009 3:05 PM | TonyS Said:
I am one of the people who “hates the beautiful life and wants others to join me” so I guess I am not invited… I am organizing a get-together in my basement where we can all complain about how much we hate our lives and just hurl insults at each other without mercy for a few hours.
31 March 2009 3:26 PM | Brandon Said:
Sounds like a great idea!
31 March 2009 4:06 PM | Neener Said:
Has anyone considered putting up signs around the neighborhood telling their neighbors that they intend to live the good life and will call the police on them every time they sell drugs?
31 March 2009 4:12 PM | springroadintoaction Said:
I thought that was the point of the Neighborhood Watch signs…
(snicker)
31 March 2009 5:54 PM | PetworthRes Said:
sign me up, too.
01 April 2009 4:23 PM | Xamad Said:
I’ve been thinking of suggesting this for a while now. Every week, I clean up the trash in the triangular park in front of my house in Petworth and would love to join forces with the neighborhood at large to tackle this problem on a larger scale. Who knows, may be the “litter culture” can be changed a bit.
01 April 2009 8:31 PM | Anonymous Said:
I echo a lot of the sentiments here in favor of a community service day or a series of community service days. At a base level, everyone who reads this blog are vested and engaged with what goes on in our neighborhood and greater green line community. Please keep me posted, and let me know what I can do to help.