SitemapNearly 650 volunteers from more than 60 local businesses are coming together Friday to help clean up the city.
The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley is hosting its 19th annual Day of Caring.
Beginning at 8 a.m., the United Way will announce its campaign goal during a breakfast at the Covelli Centre. Then at 9 a.m., the volunteers will head off to their projects.
Nearly 400 of the volunteers will spend their day on Youngstown's South Side, focusing on blighted homes and vacant properties along the Market Street Corridor between Hudson Avenue, South Avenue, Evergreen Avenue and Midlothian Boulevard.
They will clean up debris, overgrown vegetation, board up the vacant homes, and install free smoke detectors in occupied homes.
The American Red Cross is partnering with United Way, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, and the City of Youngstown to help reduce the risk of fires in homes.
The City of Youngstown and its employees play a major role in the cleanup efforts with many of its work crews, as well as the Youngstown Police Department, assisting the volunteers.
Republic Services has stepped up to help with any garbage and debris brought to their landfill.
Green Youngstown also partnered with United Way and YNDC to help make this project a reality.
The volunteers will use R.U.B.Y. (Revitalization and Urban Beautification of Youngstown). R.U.B.Y. is a valuable tool available to residents or volunteer groups looking to do a clean up or beautification project.
The trailer contains tools and cleanup supplies that can be borrowed for free for projects within the City of Youngstown.
The rest of the volunteers are assigned to projects at 16 different non-profit agencies, such as Potential Development, YWCA, and Youngstown CityScape.
They will help these non-profits with landscaping projects, clean up efforts, and remodeling.
All of the registered volunteer teams will be entered into a drawing to win a Luxury Suite Night at a Youngstown Phantom's Game. Each year the Phantoms bring a large team of volunteers, and they wanted to provide an award and incentive for the other groups participating this year.
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