April may bring showers that bring May flowers, but it is also the month when the city of Indianapolis focuses attention on cleaning up neighborhoods from litter, illegal dumping, and heightening awareness of the importance of community efforts to achieve goals.
KIB’s Great Indy Cleanup is an anti-litter program in partnership with the City of Indianapolis designed to assist individuals and community groups combat heavy litter and debris that has accumulated in public spaces such as streets, alleys, greenspaces and waterways. These are community cleanups, organized by neighborhoods, where everyone can get involved to make a difference.
The 2016 Great Indy Cleanup season was a huge success, with 366 community cleanups which collected 2.1 million pounds of litter and illegal dumping thanks to 12,500 hard-working volunteers.
KIB provides cleanup supplies such as trash bags and gloves, a dumpster, and lots of support. During the dates of the April Great Indy Cleanup Event city trash trucks are also available for community cleanups.
While there are clean-ups organized in fall, the April events concentrate on clearing debris that has collected over the winter months. Several east side neighborhoods will participate on Saturday, April 8, including Otterbein, Little Flower, Cottage Home, Windsor Park, and Woodruff Place. Irvington’s Cleanup day will be April 29, as will Warren Park’s. The Binford area’s cleanup will be KIB’s Focus Neighborhood April 29.
Most cleanup registrations are full, but there are still ways to participate in cleaning up throughout the year. If residents would like further information about local cleanups and meeting times, contact Lauren Wright (317-264-7555×116 or lwright@kibi.org) with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. Please contact her as well if you want to organize a neighborhood cleanup May through October.
