Citywide cleanup in Wilmington challenges community to rise [video]

In an effort to encourage residents to rise up and clean their neighborhoods, Wilmington kicked off it’s RISE campaign where city officials spent some time out of the office to collect loads of trash from various locations. 

As Mayor Dennis Williams and police continue to work on programs to tackle the city’s violence, the RISE campaign focuses on promoting clean communities. At least half of the Dept. of Planning came together to pick up as much trash as they could within a four block radius of Maryland Avenue. 

“I’ve done cleanups for over ten years and Maryland Avenue was not too bad. This is a gateway into our city and a lot of the business owners and residents really appreciated seeing city workers out here taking time off their lunch hour to come and clean the city but it wasn’t too bad. Wilmington is much cleaner than people think it is,” said Sophia Hanson, director of the Dept. of Planning. 

While some locations were a bit cleaner than others, volunteers had to spend a little more time on a local lot on the 2200 block of Governor Printz Blvd. The three-hour cleanup event ended with a celebration at Rodney Square challenging people to not give up on the city’s image. 

“In previous years we would clean for eight weeks a year through Operation Clean Sweep. So with the start of the RISE campaign, we’re sending a clear message to the city that under the new Administration, cleaning up our communities and rebuilding neighborhoods is our number one priority,” said Hanson.