By Mayor Martin Walsh
We’re entering into one of the most beautiful times of the year: early summer, where Boston’s citizens congregate outside to enjoy the warming weather and celebrate the start of the summer season. That’s why Boston’s community came together in April to clean the streets of Boston through the City’s Boston Shines program. I want to thank everyone who joined this effort to beautify Jamaica Plain streets and get us ready for a safe, fun summer.
Thousands of volunteers—including business, community groups, and residents—took to their neighborhood streets to lend a hand in Boston Shines. Across the City, over 4,600 Bostonians helped in the cleanup, in a total of 156 projects over the span of three weekends. The pride that the people of Jamaica Plain take in their neighborhood is evident in the amount of work you put into your neighborhood cleanup. In Jamaica Plain, there were over 500 volunteers, who completed 12 projects. The impressive result was more than cleaner streets. It showed that through civic pride and participation, we can improve the quality of life for residents throughout Boston.
Thank you to each and every one of you who helped make this project a success. Thank you as well to the Boston Public Works department, which delivered tools, mulch, and trash pickup to the locations. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department also pitched in throughout the events, as did the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Boston’s Environment, Energy and Open Space team. In addition, our business partners provided great assistance to Boston Shines, showing their commitment to a beautiful Boston for all. Thank you in particular to the H. Levenbaum Insurance Agency, the City of Boston Credit Union, New Boston Ventures, The Home Depot, and Delta Dental.
Boston Shines represents the great things that we can accomplish when we work together as a community. I thank all the volunteers again for their help in working to clean our streets—and I enjoyed doing my part to make sure Boston Shines.