On Sunday, May 22, 2022, WeLoveU volunteers from the Washington metropolitan area held a cleanup at Marvin Gaye Park and collected more than 40 bags of trash. The volunteer service activity was in honor of Clean Day, WeLoveU’s annual environmental day, to encourage volunteers worldwide to clean in their region. Over 50 volunteers gathered to clean the park, named after the famous soul singer and environmentalist. The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) provided tools to collect trash and remove weeds from the park.
Impacting Multiple Neighborhoods
Marvin Gaye Park is the longest municipal park in Washington, D.C. It has a walk and ride trail spanning over 1.5 miles through the northeastern neighborhoods of Deanwood, Burville, Hillbrook, Lincoln Heights, and Northeast Boundary. The path coexists along the Watts Branch of the Anacostia River. The trash in these trails travels down into the rivers and is harmful to marine life in the environment. During the cleanup, temperatures rose to 92 degrees, but this couldn’t deter the volunteers eager to beautify the park and stop trash from entering the waterways.
A Better Trail for Bicyclists
Bicyclists expressed their gratitude toward WeLoveU volunteers as they saw their efforts in clearing debris from the bike trail. Dirty bike trails made the bike rides difficult, so the bicyclists waved and thanked volunteers throughout the day. Volunteers reflected on the day and interactions with residents at Marvin Gaye Park. “This is my first-time volunteering with WeLoveU, and I’m so impressed at how organized and diligent everyone is. I can tell that this is positively impacting people,” remarked one volunteer.
Coming Together for the Parks
Today’s cleanup was the second time the Washington, D.C. chapter teamed up with DPR for community service, and both parties are excited to continue making the capital’s parks the best in the nation. “You all are a truly exceptional group and are a great example of how community service should operate,” said Alice Miller, community engagement lead for DPR. “You come to clean, and we really appreciate you all coming out today.”
4 thoughts on “Volunteers Clean Marvin Gaye Park in Washington, D.C. on Clean Day ”
This cleanup must’ve been so fun! All I see is happy smiles. Congratulations to the DC chapter for assisting in this great work to help keep our earth clean.
Oh wow that’s so awesome! Great job DC Chapter! You guys are so diligent with the volunteer work in the community!
Wow 92 degrees! Thank you Washington chapter volunteers for cleaning up the environment even in hot weather like that!
That’s so awesome to see volunteers roll up their sleeves and clean up the community even in hot weather! Keep up the good work!!!