Keeta Gilmore gave West Cedar Street a good sweeping during last fall’s Neighborhood Clean Up Day.
The Beacon Hill Civic Association’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee asks all residents to step outside and give the sidewalk in front of their homes a good spring cleaning during Boston Shines, Saturday, April 28.
“Cleaning up is everybody’s responsibility – every resident, every shopkeeper, every business,” said committee member Keeta Gilmore, who does her share by sweeping in front of her home year-round. “If we all work together on cleaning the neighborhood, we can make it really shine.”
From 9 a.m. to 12 noon, brooms, rakes, trash bags and gloves will be available in front of the Charles Street Supply Company at 54-56 Charles Street and at the Phillips Street Playground. Coffee and donuts donated by the Charles Street Market will available for all volunteers.
The BHCA has asked the city to bring its small street cleaner, the “green machine,” to give some streets an extra sweep that morning. Residents aware of streets in particular need of cleaning may contact the BHCA.
Besides giving the neighborhood a clean sweep, BHCA encourages residents to group together with others to undertake special projects, such as planting, raking, painting or helping some of the neighborhood nonprofits. Suffolk University students are being recruited to spruce up the Myrtle and Phillips Street playgrounds, as well as help assess the condition of the neighborhood street lamps.
And to keep the neighborhood clean, BHCA’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee reminds residents about the campaign it started last spring: Clean. Sweep. Repeat. Once a week. Bright gold campaign posters still hang amidst brooms and dustpans in the window of Charles Street Supply, with whom BHCA has partnered in the campaign.
For years, trash, littering and the general uncleanliness of the neighborhood has been on residents’ minds. “Not only has trash been at the top of the list of concerns expressed by residents on all of our surveys, it is also the subject of the most frequent complaints in the office,” said Executive Director Suzanne Besser. “We believe that the Neighborhood Clean Up Days and the Clean. Sweep. Repeat. Campaign are really making a difference.”