More than 300 Port Washington residents came out to this year’s Clean Green Main Street event on April 21 to pick up litter, plant flowers and help Residents Forward with a new concept for the tree beds lining Main Street. An initiative led by a group of Schreiber High School juniors, the event was sponsored by Residents Forward and the Town of North Hempstead who gave signed community service certificates to student volunteers.
“The turnout is awesome,” said Residents Forward executive director Mindy Germain. “I love this event because it’s about the whole community getting together to clean up and beautify our community. It’s all about pride in Port. The teens have started to realize litter is more than just being ugly. It also has environmental impacts especially because we live right by the water. They’ve taken a lot of pride and put a lot of work in today and they’ve helped us get a great turnout.”
“I think the people involved in this are frustrated by the trash that they’re seeing on Main Street and they want it to change and they want to do all they can to alleviate it,” added Residents Forward board member Betsy Liegey. “This is a town that we’re super proud of and that we love. We live here and we get off the train or walk into town and it’s littered with litter. It shouldn’t be that way. We’re trying to get the word out, making sure people are throwing their trash away and are doing what they need to do, but also that the town is kicking in and doing what they need to do to alleviate the problem.”
Student leaders who helped to publicize the event by handing out flyers and spreading the word included Zach Osman, Maddy Feigin, Michelle Titone, Margaret Harper, Debbie Gersh and Nick Verdino.
“I think it’s really important to have the community come together especially for a good cause and helping beautify Port Washington,” said Debbie Gersh. “If you look around there are so many people here who I’ve never seen before, but they’re all part of the community and are helping do this amazing thing.”
