Portlanders came out in full-force during SOLVE's 7th annual Pick It Up, Portland! event, presented by Pacific Power. During this two-day, city-wide litter cleanup event, 398 volunteers removed more than 3,880 pounds of trash from business fronts, parks, and neighborhoods at 15 locations across Portland.
On Friday, June 23, SOLVE hosted four large cleanups where local businesses and community members joined forces to pick up huge amounts of trash along the downtown corridor, Waterfront Park, the Lloyd District neighborhood at Holladay Park, and the Goose Hollow neighborhood.
At Holladay Park, 91 total volunteers, including many Pacific Power employees, removed over 400 pounds of litter from the Lloyd District neighborhood alone.
"Pacific Power is proud to partner with SOLVE in its latest city-wide cleanup efforts," said Alisa Dunlap, Regional Business Manager. "Now, more than ever, we are committed to keeping Portland clean and beautiful. We celebrate a hands-on environmentalism whose impact is immediate and long lasting."
Community members took the reins on Saturday, June 24, hosting 11 additional cleanup events along a 7.5-mile stretch of 82nd Avenue—focusing the cleanup effort on this important city corridor. These events support the exciting improvements being made to this street as part of the Building A Better 82nd Avenue initiative.
"I am optimistic of the future of 82nd Avenue, of the improvements that have been made, and are still to come,” said Taylor Neitzke, Program Director of SOLVE and local resident of the Madison South neighborhood. “As a longtime resident, I was personally elated to work alongside neighbors to concentrate our efforts on this diverse and multifaceted street.”
SOLVE is a local environmental non-profit that specializes in creating volunteer opportunities for individuals and businesses to give back to their community. SOLVE hosts Pick It Up, Portland! and many similar trash pickup and habitat restoration events year-round in a effort to keep our city streets and neighborhoods looking clean and inviting. SOLVE’s goal is to provide volunteer opportunities like this that a play critical role in maintaining the beauty and vibrancy of our city.
So far in 2023, SOLVE volunteers have already removed more than 422,000 pounds of trash.
Along with Pacific Power, Pick It Up, Portland! was sponsored by Plaid Pantry, AAA Oregon/Idaho, Metro, Lithia Motors, Bank of America, The Standard, TriMet, Hanna Anderssen, KOIN, On Point Community Credit Union, Bamboo Sushi, City of Portland, KEEN, Ethos Commercial Advisors, and Bottle Drop.
Source: SOLVE