Downtown Chattanooga cleaner and greener thanks to local volunteers

Today marked the third year that Clean and Green has helped clean up downtown Chattanooga.

A River City Co. program, Clean and Green is an organized downtown cleanup where businesses, civic groups and individuals roll up their sleeves and make a big collective difference. Through beautification activities like litter pick up and graffiti removal along with tackling specific community projects such as the planting of a community garden at the 21st Century Child Development and Learning Center, 750 volunteers made a noticeable impact on downtown.

The following are the targeted districts, downtown neighborhoods and gateway neighborhoods for Clean and Green: City Center, Riverfront, Southside, MLK/UTC, Northshore, Fort Wood, Glass Farms, Glenwood, Highland Park, Hill City, North Creek and Orchard Knob.

Along with sponsor Volkswagen Chattanooga and partners Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, Causeway.org and LifeKraze, 1,500 bags of trash were collected along with graffiti being removed from 20 buildings and monuments.

For all their hard work, volunteers were treated to breakfast sponsored by the Chattanooga Kiwanis Club and freebies like T-shirts and water bottles. All trash bags were graciously collected and disposed of by ServPro.

Director of Creative Strategies for River City Co. Tiffanie Robinson said, "Clean and Green has always been a successful program, but this year we've had an outstanding volunteer turn out. This program not only improves everyone's quality of life but also builds pride in the volunteers for their downtown."

Partnering with River City, CNE's Partnership and Program Coordinator Jen Politano states, "Our downtown and gateway neighborhoods are critical areas for the sustainability of Chattanooga. Clean and Green lends the opportunity for residents and others to make our communities more beautiful and welcoming."

Natalie Roy, a Clean and Green volunteer from a combined group that represented the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga and the UTC GOLD Council, describes her volunteer experience: "With 20 people representing the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga and the UTC Gold Council, we focused on a community garden at the 21st Century Learning and development Center. It was great to build some comradery and make our beautiful city even better."

After the cleanup, volunteers were invited to an after party at the Camp House sponsored by Chattanooga Whiskey.

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