LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — NAACP Lancaster hosted a community cleanup event on Sunday afternoon at Reservoir Park in honor of Earth Week.
The public gathered between East Orange Street and East King Street at North Franklin Street, near the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, to clean up the park.
The Lancaster branch’s Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) committee decided to develop the event to address environmental practices and issues that are disproportionately impacting communities of color.
"I wanted to do something for kids and families to let them know that their voice matters," said Zeshan Ismat, chair of ECJ. ” They deserve clean water, clean air, clean land."
According to a 2020 Pennsylvania Litter Research Study, state roadways are littered with approximately 502.5 million pieces of litter. The study also said urban roads had approximately 2,585 litter items per mile.
“What has always bothered me and a lot of people is that, you know, people of color, the lowest caste, the poorest people, typically live in the most environmentally degraded areas, and it’s completely unjust," said Ismat.
Ismat says the current generation of youth is assuring that their community won't continue to be negatively impacted by speaking up and following up with actionable solutions.
“I think that attitude is so contagious and it’s spreading to everyone," said Ismat.
Ismat says this cleanup effort is only the beginning of fostering a sustainable city.
"If we start small with just cleaning up a park and letting people know that this park is our park. We matter." Ismat said.
Organizers said eight garbage bags of trash and six bags of recycling were collected.
Next Sunday, April 25, NAACP Lancaster is hosting another event for Earth Week for increasing sustainable plant life. Attendees will plant native wildflowers and remove non-native and invasive plants. The event will from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. at Wharton Elementary School.