NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
25 April 2003

MAYOR KICKS OFF 2003 NEIGHBORHOOD BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAM WITH 290 BLOCKS AND LOTS ADOPTED BY VOLUNTEERS

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today kicked off the city’s Spring neighborhood clean-up drive with dozens of volunteer workers sprucing up the 13th and Market Street area. The city organized beautification effort continues on Saturday, April 26, with neighborhood groups undertaking clean-up work on more than 290 city blocks and lots.

Reed said the annual clean-up effort is a major project of the city’s Adopt-A- Block and Adopt-A-Lot programs, which the Mayor first began in 1994. The Adopt-A-Block and Lot programs provide resources to neighborhood leaders and community groups for clean-ups and other neighborhood renewal activities. There are currently 166 different Block Captains or lot caretakers responsible for more than 290 city blocks and lots. The Spring clean-up is one of several periodic clean- ups the volunteers will conduct throughout the year in their adopted blocks or lots.

The Mayor said the clean-up effort is important for many reasons: “A neighborhood’s appearance plays an important role in residential occupancy and stability, in the costs and availability of home mortgages and insurance policies, and in the overall quality of life for citizens living in the blocks covered by an organized community or neighborhood group,” said the Mayor.

Reed said the city works closely with a variety of groups to reach the widest area possible, with such groups as the Summit Terrace Neighborhood Association, Central Allison Hill Community Center, Habitat for Humanity, Harrisburg Young Professionals, Leadership Harrisburg Area, Citywide Neighborhood Council, Penn State University, Historic Harrisburg Association, Community Action Commission and more all involved.

The Mayor said the city Department of Building and Housing Development organizes the clean-up drive in conjunction with the various neighborhood leaders and groups, and provides them with tools, rakes, shovels, trash bags, free trash pick-up services and other organizing activities.

To volunteer or for more information on the city’s Adopt-A-Block and Lot programs please call the city coordinator at 717.255.6480.

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