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?

47 Responses to “Dear PoP – How ‘Bout a Day of Service?”

  1. thank you

    totally in. Love it! What a great suggestion!

     

  2. Naomi

    Love the idea. I’m in.

     

  3. Son of Quincy

    100% in. Let’s get this going! Great idea.

     

  4. New2CH

    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 …

     

  5. New2CH

    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 …

     

  6. James in Washington

    I love it. Sign me up.

     

  7. ScottahB

    I think this is a great suggestion! I’d be willing to help out.

     

  8. u street girl

    I think I can volunteer me and the boyfriend. I love the idea.

     

  9. parkview

    this sounds really cool! sign me up too

     

  10. 1400 Block of Harvard ST NW

    Love this idea – time to be a part of the change we ask for in others.

    I am in!

     

  11. christopher

    liked this the first time it was suggested last year, like it even more now…lets do it to it!

     

  12. Sounds great! The wife and I would participate.

     

  13. EMG

    Brilliant idea, I’m tired of my dog stopping every three inches to eat something left on the ground.

     

  14. Fellow Petworthian

    Count me in!

     

  15. Lesley

    Wonderful! I would definitely be interested.

     

  16. David

    I want to help out too!

     

  17. 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.

     

  18. Sheepy

    Sounds good to me! Though I probably won’t have time til June.

     

  19. dceited

    totally in on this. great idea!

     

  20. Raz

    I think this is a great idea. Count me in.

     

  21. sam

    great idea.

     

  22. DC_Chica

    Count me in too

     

  23. marc

    me too! me too!

     

  24. oliveskinnednica

    will there be punch and pie…i want punch and pie!

    i’m in :-)

     

  25. Great idea!

     

  26. Nick

    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.

     

  27. Trash Treaty

    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.

     

  28. Fergusonfoundation

    http://www.fergusonfoundation.org/trash_initiative/trashtreaty_currentSECURE.pdf

     

  29. Casey Trees

    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/

     

  30. 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. LJG

    Count me in!

     

  32. Bryan

    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).

     

  33. Casey

    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.

     

  34. Crystal

    Sign me up — sounds like a great plan

     

  35. Stilton

    Count me in too! Great idea.

     

  36. Katie

    Of course! I will be there.

     

  37. ListenToLeon

    Sounds great. I’m in!

     

  38. Aimei

    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. :)

     

  39. should we include scraping gum off trees to our clean up list?

     

  40. Ross

    I’m in!

     

  41. TonyS

    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.

     

  42. Brandon

    Sounds like a great idea!

     

  43. Neener

    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?

     

  44. springroadintoaction

    I thought that was the point of the Neighborhood Watch signs…

    (snicker)

     

  45. PetworthRes

    sign me up, too.

     

  46. Xamad

    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.

     

  47. 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.

     

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