By: Reney Waters, Follow South Jersey News Reporting Intern
BRIDGETON, NJ — The Bridgeton community will hold its second semi-annual community wide clean-up event on Saturday, September 25.
The event will begin with a sign-in period from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. on the 25th at the Riverfront in downtown Bridgeton. Any community members interested in helping keep the city clean are invited to attend and participate in the clean-up. All CDC guidelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic will be strictly enforced upon arrival, and children who participate must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Teams will be spread out in various parts of the community throughout the day. Bags, gloves, pick-up sticks, and refreshments will be provided by event organizers.
Bridgeton Mayor Albert B. Kelly announced the scheduled clean-up event in his latest column for NJ.com. He also talked about the importance of keeping the city clean and the multitude of reasons that make September 25’s clean-up event so important.
“What we do know is that nothing good comes from the accumulation of trash and litter. At its worst, their presence impacts public health and wellness,” Mayor Kelly said. “… Visible trash depresses property values and creates a blighting effect in neighborhoods where it exists. This can also help fuel the worst stereotypes about race, ethnicity and economic status.”
Since the city began holding clean-up events during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, this day has helped bring people together for a day of community service. While a number of events in the city foster an important sense of community, the clean-up effectively kills two birds with one stone.
“The end result matters and that result is having cleaner streets, but there is more,” Mayor Kelly said. “It has to do with the whole idea of community spirit, which is often elusive and hard to define. You know it when you see it.”
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This article was produced by a Follow South Jersey news intern thanks to a grant provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the New Jersey Health Initiatives program to create hyper-local news to meet the informational and health needs of the City of Bridgeton, N.J.
