The Annual Beautiful City Community Clean-Up Day and Wilmington’s First Open Streets Event are Set for this Saturday
May 12, 2021
40 groups are registered for Saturday morning’s clean-up; Open Streets Wilmington happens on Saturday afternoon from 4th to 10th on Market Street
Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki today thanked residents, businesses, civic and church groups around the City who have signed up to participate in a day of community projects this Saturday, May 15 between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. While COVID-19 remains a serious concern, the Mayor said he remains confident that residents can gather safely and responsibly to complete both a City-wide clean up in the morning as part of the City’s Beautiful City Campaign and enjoy a healthy and fun Open Streets event later in the day.
To date, 40 groups have registered for the return of Wilmington’s Community Clean-Up Day – not held in 2020 due to the pandemic – to improve neighborhoods and public spaces by collecting trash and debris, planting flowers, updating landscaping, starting a community garden, or a related beautification project. The Mayor also thanked the helpful staff at The Home Depot on Miller Road (Store 8440) for assisting the Mayor’s Office of Constituent Services and the community with this year’s event.
Mayor Purzycki also invited everyone in and around the City to the first in a series of Open Streets Wilmington events to be held this summer at various locations in the City. The inaugural event will kick off Saturday afternoon on Market Street in Downtown Wilmington. The street will be closed to vehicular traffic from 4th through 10th streets between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Open Streets creates a safe, car-free environment for residents of all ages and abilities to enjoy time outside walking, biking, and more. Most of Market Street will be closed off to traffic for this special day so residents can enjoy a healthy slate of activities, including:
- Outdoor fitness classes, children’s activities, and information provided by the YMCA [ymcade.org]
- Free bicycle repairs provided by Urban Bike Project [urbanbikeproject.com]
- Cooking demos and free giveaways of recipe cards and ingredient kits provided by the Food Bank of Delaware [fbd.org]
- 1st and 2nd doses of the Pfizer COVID vaccine and COVID PCR testing provided by CarePortMD [careportmd.com]
- First Aid and CPR informational tent provided by St. Francis Healthcare [trinityhealthma.org]
Open Streets Wilmington is a collaborative initiative of Urban Bike Project, West Side Grows Together [westsidegrows.org], and the Open Streets Steering Committee, a coalition of community representatives. Open Streets Wilmington is also presented by HighMark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware [highmarkbcbsde.com] through their grant fund Blueprints for the Community [highmark.com]. For more information, visit www.openstreetswilmington.org [openstreetswilmington.org]