The Mayor’s 16th Annual Spring Cleanup kicked off this morning on the corner of Park Heights and Keyworth avenues, lending support to a community-led effort to clean and care for this area of Northwest Baltimore.

Representing Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., said that continued community involvement is necessary to deal with the illegal dumping and other sanitation issues facing the community. “It is entirely appropriate to be here in the Park Heights Community to kick off the 16th Annual Mayor’s Spring Cleanup because there is a solid commitment here to neighborhood improvement. The challenges facing this particular location signify why it is important for the City and community to work together, and to have support from dedicated stakeholders,” Mr. Chow said.

Joining him were Parks and Recreation Director Ernest Burkeen Jr. and a representative from the Department of Transportation. Parks and Recreation and Transportation are among the long-standing supporters of the Mayor’s annual cleanups, which rely greatly on interagency cooperation.

This kick-off event supports a community led effort to clean a three-block area of this Northwest Baltimore community. Following the Spring Cleanup kick-off ceremony, community volunteers cleaned the lot and alleys at Parks Heights and Keyworth and then cleaned along a three-block area, culminating at the Derby Key Greenspring Community Park, 3800 Derby Manor Drive.

Leading this Park Heights clean-up are Odessa Neale, community organizer for the Park Heights Renaissance, and Christopher Crockett, president of the Springhill Derbymanor Greenspring Keyworth Community Association. “The community sees and understands the challenges facing many areas of Park Heights and are determined to work together to make the community a better place to live,” Ms. Neale said. Community concerns have been raised about litter and illegal dumping for this Park Heights/Keyworth Avenue area as well as near the Derby Key Greenspring Community Park.

Across the City, this morning, there are more than 4,400 citizen volunteers who are busy cleaning up in over 200 neighborhoods.