Volunteers clean up Culmore
If the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads is looking a lot nicer, it’s because nearly 70 volunteers – including adults, children, and youths – spent Saturday morning collecting trash around the neighborhood.
Volunteers came from Second Story, the Friends of Holmes Run, the Bailey’s Crossroads Rotary Club, HACAN, and the Place-Based Initiative, a project supported by George Mason University that engages residents of Culmore and Bailey’s Crossroads on issues that affect their community. Local cleanup and recycling activist Jo Doumbia participated, as well.
The Culmore Cleanup was organized by Andres Curtin, strategy director for Crossroads Opportunity Neighborhoods at Second Story, a nonprofit that operates a family resource center, teen center, and safe youth project in Culmore.
Anthem HealthKeepers distributed special “Culmore Cleanup” hats to the volunteers. After the cleanup, the volunteers were treated to a free lunch.
Two initial thoughts: 1) How embarrassing it must be when your home is so filthy outsiders recognize it and have to clean it up for you, and 2) any Culmore residents who weren’t out there helping with the cleanup are (fill in the blank).
Great work — what an inspiration to the community. Thank you to all the selfless volunteers.
In looking at the photo, my curiosity got the best of me.
Did Supervisor Jimenez help clean up, or did he just show up for the photo opportunity? It’s difficult to tell since he dresses like a high school kid no matter the occasion. Thanks what you can tell us!
The Culmore community is filled with a lot of hard working people .Looks like many residents showed up to show how much they care for that community. 🏆Work well done and I’m sure appreciated. Maybe more communities could use a clean up day like this.
Well, we have one coming up on Saturday, June 6th on Americana Drive which is also a hard working community with many challenges. Not to mention our largest watershed runs through it. The event is 10AM-1PM and the sign in tent is located at the corner of Patriot and Americana Drive. If you’d like to sign up please do at http://www.fcrpp3.org. Hope to see you there!
Enabling poor behavior begets more poor behavior.
Wasn’t Americana just cleaned up six months ago or less? Think I read about here. Didn’t the residents learn anything? Were they not shamed into cleaning up their own neighborhood?
Aren’t many of these subsidized housing units? Where’s the management? Where’s my tax dollar going?
Wonder what the residents tell their kids about why others’ are picking up their trash?
Instead of making excuses for the residents, maybe a tent with free education materials on how & why to clean up after oneself would be more helpful than doing it for them.
I’d love to volunteer but I too am hardworking and have many challenges. Among them are rowing my own boat and lifting my own weight and maintaining my own property so others don’t have to.
Not hate, tough love.
Unfortunately ignoring systemic problems doesn’t always get you to the result you’d like. We have a watershed that needs attention there as well as a community of many who do not dump. While your argument is understood the people who live along Americana Drive are residents of this county and deserve better than the accomplishments of a few dumpers. Americana Drive has many problems including not being wide enough to pass when cars are parked on both sides of the road endangering pedestrians, out of control parking above the curb and churning soil that runs right into Accotink Creek and ultimately Accotink Lake, illegal dumping to avoid the high costs of driving to the landfill after working all day and paying when you get there, and too many governing elements who point fingers at each other but don’t step up to make a difference. We hold 3 clean ups a year there to give this community and the watershed a helping hand.
Fair enough. Thanks for your efforts!
Great, thoughtful reply–thanks for all you do!
Amy,
You are a treasure! Thank you for all your hard work to make our world a better place.
I feel conflicted. This is nice but nobody is asking why the residents allow their home to be so run down that kind people have to come in and clean up.