WORCESTER, Mass. - A local group is celebrating a small milestone. In a little more than a year, they've cleaned up nearly 11,000 pounds of trash across the City of Worcester.
The Worcester Green Corps aims to keep the city's streets and green spaces clean on a year round basis. In its second summer, 26 youth workers ages 14 to 19 are cleaning up several Worcester neighborhoods.
In the last three weeks, they picked up more than 2,000 pounds of litter. Coordinator Miranda Hotham said illegal dumping is still an issue in the city but they have better ways to deal with it this summer.
“I would say the neighborhoods are cleaner” said Hotham. “A lot of people have mentioned to me that they think the neighborhoods are cleaner as well. We just have the issue of illegal dumping we're trying to tackle. We have a more coordinated strategy this year. We're keeping track of all the illegal dump sites and submitting reports to DPW and keeping track of those reports and the following up to see if those sites have been taken care of.”
The office of Worcester Representative David LeBoeuf secured new funding for the group in an economic development bill.
The $100,000 will help improve staffing and generate more awareness of green jobs and land stewardship among young people of color in public schools.